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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25436623">What's One More Replay?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyrathekiller/pseuds/Kyrathekiller'>Kyrathekiller</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Undertale (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aborted Undertale Genocide Run, Chara Is Not Evil, Gender-Neutral Frisk (Undertale), Male Chara (Undertale), Multi, Narrator Chara (Undertale), Post-Undertale Neutral Route, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reaction, Sans (Undertale) Remembers Resets, convoluted magic system, headcanons galore, no beta we die like men, probably not, watch the author bend over backwards to justify this plot, will I ever figure out how to maintain a consistent tense?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:08:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,098</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25436623</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyrathekiller/pseuds/Kyrathekiller</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Over the past few months Frisk has become more withdrawn, spending less time with their friends and family and more locked away in their room.</p><p>Feeling as though she failed her child, Toriel wishes for an explanation, so that she might understand her child's pain. Fortunately for her, that explanation arrives just in time.</p><p>"Oh yeah," thought Chara, bitterly, "because nothing is better for a child's mental health than having everyone witness their trauma in HD."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Asgore Dreemurr/Toriel, Chara &amp; Frisk (Undertale), Frisk (Undertale) &amp; Everyone, Papyrus &amp; Sans (Undertale)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>401</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. You're not exactly Lassie.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chara was finding himself more and more in what some people may describe as a predicament. Really, in his opinion, it’s all that stupid dogs fault. </p><p>If a boring, regular dog from the surface could understand a simple command to get help, then why couldn’t a cool, monster dog from the underground do the same. Chara had tried asking the dog, ordering the dog, begging the dog-- he’d even promised to donate money to its stupid dog shrine! But the dumb thing just refuses to budge; staring at him with that same dopey smile. </p><p>Under normal circumstances, he’d be surprised the dog could even see him. Most creatures human, monster or otherwise, rarely acknowledged Chara’s presence. Not because they’re rude, but because Chara is not like most kids. No, Chara is unique because, unlike most 13-year-olds, Chara is dead. </p><p>But don’t worry, he’s been dead for a long time now and he’s over it… really. <em> Trust him. </em>But, his currently deceased state is not doing him any favors, as the only person in the universe who seems to be able to see him and talk to him and keep him company in his lonely existence, is passed out on the floor. </p><p>So, you see, he would really appreciate it if this dog, would make its merry way down the stairs, find Toriel in the kitchen and bring her upstairs. But, the dog does not do that, the dog simply lays down in the doorway and falls asleep. And, after shouting a stream of insults at the dog that would have certainly made his adoptive goat-mother disappointed, Chara finally decided to try to find a different solution. </p><p>Kneeling next to Frisk, Chara reached out again with their soul connection. Partly to check on Frisk’s wellbeing and partly to see if he could wake them up. The warm glow of Frisk’s soul met his own and Chara could feel the crunch of snow beneath his feet, hear the faint churning of a stream, and taste the overpowering sweetness of a butterscotch cinnamon pie. Frisk’s soul was so light at its core. So light that each time Chara looked at it he could convince himself, just for an instant, that there was nothing eating away at his friend’s mind. <strike> And, just for an instant, forget that it’s all his fault. </strike></p><p>
  <em> “No, don’t think about that. Focus on Frisk. They need your help.” </em>
</p><p>With a sigh, Chara lets go of Frisk’s soul. It seems that they were fine (besides being unconscious, obviously.) But there was no way he could wake them up. </p><p>What had even happened? One minute he’s helping Frisk with their 3rd-grade math homework, and the next his friend is on the floor. </p><p>He looked back to the desk, and to his surprise, it was no longer the tedious multiplication tables that sat front and center, but a box. Moving closer he could see that the box was actually a DVD set. On top, covering the title of whatever show it was, was a letter addressed to Toriel.</p><p><em> “The universe really seems to want to rub the fact that I’m incorporeal right in my face today, huh,” </em>Chara thought, bitterly. Looking to the spine was no help either, as none of the cases seemed to have their own titles, just numbers, likely indicating the watch order. But before Chara could begin to speculate on what the disks might hold, a soft knock resounded from the other side of the bedroom door. Finally. </p><p>“Frisk, it is time for dinner, dear,” Toriel said. After a few moments with no reply from her adopted child, she began to slowly enter the room. “Frisk? You should not play music so loud--” Her half-hearted scolding died in her throat as she noticed the small 9-year-old crumpled up on the floor. “Frisk!? Darling, what happened?” The child did not stir. Toriel fumbled, rushing over to the child’s side and pulling them into her arms. </p><p><em> “I need to call for help,” </em>she thought. Quickly, though gently, she set Frisk down onto their bed before grabbing her phone from her pocket. But before she could dial any number, something made her stop in her tracks. The smell of buttercups and chocolate bars. </p><p>“Chara?” She asked, tentatively to the empty room. <strike> But nobody came</strike><strike>.</strike> </p><p>Toriel mentally chastised herself, <em> “I need to calm down. Chara is gone, it is only nerves.”  </em></p><p>And yet… <em> And yet… </em></p><p>Lowering her phone Toriel turned to her child’s desk. And there she was surprised to find a letter addressed to her.</p><p><em> “I should be calling for emergency services.” </em>But something kept her from doing it.</p><p>She opened the letter.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> Your Majesty, I would like to begin this letter by giving you my sincerest apologies. If you are reading this, it is more than likely that you are still recovering from the great shock of seeing your child unconscious on the floor. I found it was the only way to get the last piece of information I needed.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I know you have been growing more concerned about the wellbeing of your child. Believe me, that is something I can relate to as well, but that is beside the point. As Frisk had grown more withdrawn you have become more desperate for answers. Answers that Frisk does not seem keen on providing. Now normally, it would be considered best to let Frisk come to you in their own time. However, given the… magnitude of this situation, a more direct approach must be taken. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I have provided a set of DVDs for you to view that will hopefully help you learn what Frisk is hiding and how to help them. But I also caution you, there will be many things on these recordings that will hurt, sadden, shock, or disturb you. But if you truly mean to save Frisk from their own demons then you must watch. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I would also suggest bringing in the close friends of Frisk to view these as well. Not only am I sure they will be as eager as you are to help their human friend, but the events recorded here do heavily involve them and their relations to Frisk. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> But, moving on. I want you to know that Frisk is alright. After the viewing, they will wake from their slumber rested and refreshed. This is likely for the best as you need to watch each disk to its completion. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Thank you and good luck, </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> - An old friend. </em>
</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Toriel set the letter down, not sure what to think, a million questions racing through her head. Not sure where to start, she turned to the box. On the cover, in large, white letters was one word: UNDERTALE.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Boot it up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“I swear this kid is gonna be the death of me one day,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sans thought to himself. Just an hour ago, Sans found himself being roughly awakened from his pre-dinner nap by his younger brother hitting him in the face with a cushion and yelling that they needed to go to Toriel’s home right this instant. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if that hadn’t filled him with enough foreboding, Toriel’s explanation of the situation and what they needed to do did nothing to ease his growing dread.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Staring at the collectors-edition set of doom that they were expected to watch, Sans considered, for a moment, just dropping all pretenses and blasting the dumb thing into nothing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“If those DVDs are about what I think they are, I’ll be doing all of us a favor.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Caught up in his own brooding, Sans barely registered that Papyrus had begun speaking to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What was that, bro?” Sans asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good grief, Sans,” his brother groaned. “I expect you to be more attentive during our viewing, for Frisk’s sake, if nothing else.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry, bro. I didn’t mean to space out on ya. This is just… a lot, ya know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Papyrus sighed. “Yes, this is all very concerning. But on the bright side, we’ll be able to help Frisk through whatever troubles have come over them afterward.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I guess,” Sans replied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite what his rather child-like personality, Papyrus was far from oblivious… well, at least when it came to important things. One of which being the emotions of his friends and family. For example, he knew that his brother was hiding something from him. Well, he supposed that Sans was usually hiding something, that was just what Sans did. But over the past few years, Papyrus couldn’t shake the feeling that his older brother was hiding something dangerous. But, as Sans wasn’t inclined to share, and Papyrus wasn’t sure how to confront him, he seemed to have reached a dead end on that front. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But, when his new human friend had begun acting oddly, Papyrus knew in his (metaphorical) gut that this situation couldn’t be shelved away like his brother’s. Not that Papyrus didn’t worry about his brother’s wellbeing, he just figured that Sans had been dealing with his own inner demons long before Papyrus took notice of it and by now had a good handle on them. But Frisk was only a child.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Meanwhile, Chara was growing annoyed, but that was nothing new. The current reason for the dead boy’s vexation was Toriel. Instead of simply waiting for all of the guests to arrive before explaining what was going on, the goat monster wasted all of their time giving explanations as each group arrived. First to Asgore, then to the skeleton brothers, and finally, now, to Alphys and Undyne. Chara would bash his head into a wall if it wouldn’t phase right through it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I just want this to be over already,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he bemoaned to no one. Well, that wasn’t exactly true, what Chara </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted </span>
  </em>
  <span>was for this not to happen in the first place. Despite how much he cared about Frisk, he was none to keen on the idea of all of their secrets being put on display for the others to judge. Being dead really sucked sometimes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After almost another hour of back and forth, the group finally decided to rip off the bandaid and start watching already. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>As a simple melody began to play, a washed-out picture of a Loox standing side by side with a human was shown and white text began to appear across the bottom of the screen:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Long ago, two races rules over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The scene changed to show another washed-out photograph, this time featuring the silhouette of Asgore and a human leader standing with their respective armies. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“One day, war broke out between the two races.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Once again the scene changed. This time depicting the same human standing with a mage, raised above a large horde of monsters with their army behind them.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought this was gonna be about Frisk,” Undyne interjected. “So what’s with the history lesson?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Asgore hummed thoughtfully. “Well, the breaking of the barrier is likely a monumental moment for Frisk, as well as all monsterkind. So perhaps the mysterious provider of these tapes thought it would make the most sense to explain our history first.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Undyne said. “But with the way this is phrased you’d think it was meant for someone who wasn’t a monster.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Perhaps that was the intent,” interjected Toriel. “The letter did say that we could invite others close to Frisk to this viewing. So, if there were any humans Frisk was close with, I’m sure that this would have been very helpful for them. But let us continue.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Many years later.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>In the same brown tones as all the other photos, a familiar mountain is shown. More text appears:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Mt. Ebott”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow, never would’ve guessed that one,” snarked Sans before getting aggressively shushed by Papyrus.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The next photo showed a child running towards a cave entrance through a densely wooded area.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Legends say those who climb the mountain never return.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That statement seemed to catch most of the monsters' attention.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“W-wait. If the humans have a legend about people going missing on the mountain, then what was Frisk doing climbing it,” Alphys stuttered out. An uncomfortable silence fell over the group.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Frisk is only a child,” Toriel said sharply. “I am sure they were only there because of an accident or perhaps because of a childish dare.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Most of the other monsters decided not to comment, not sure what to make of the queen's new tone. But Asgore, having known her for many long centuries, could here the fear and distraught that was creeping into her voice. For a moment he considered laying a comforting hand on her shoulder, but he refrained.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“She does not want your love anymore,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought.</span>
  <em>
    <span> “You are a disgusting murderer.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The movie began to slowly cycle through a series of photos with no text appearing beneath them. The child is shown standing above a large gap in the earth. The child trips. The child begins to tumble down into the cavern. The child lands, fall cushioned by a bed of flowers. The screen pans upwards to show the daunting climb back up to the surface and the small amount of light that still managed to shine through. The music faded along with the last photo. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>A single ominous sound reverberated as large block lettering appeared:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"UNDERTALE."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm actually super surprised this little fic got any attention. Thank you all for taking the time to read my silly story. I hope you enjoy it.</p>
<p>Also, as a side note, the chapters will likely get longer from this point on, since I'll be getting more into the meat of the story and not having to do anymore set up really.</p>
<p>Also i just realized that this chapter and the last chapter ended the same exact way. oof I promise not to make that a trend.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. A bed of golden flowers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Golden petals swirled through the stagnant air, sent in all directions by the fallen child that lay in their center. It took several moments before the child began to stir, finally sitting up and shaking bits of pollen from their mop of shaggy dark brown hair. Warm hazel eyes opened and took in their surroundings.</b>
</p><p><em> “Frisk,” </em>all the monsters immediately recognized.</p><p>
  <b>Tentatively, Frisk got to their feet and began to make their way down the dark hallway, finding it to be the only way out. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>The next room was almost as dark as the previous one, with only a single ray of light shining down like a spotlight from above. Unlike the last room, however, there was only a single golden flower growing in the light. As they tried to pass, the flower began moving, startling Frisk and making them retreat backwards a few steps. The flower seemed to grow and morph and soon a face had formed in the middle of the petals.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Howdy!” The flower called out in a sing-song voice. “I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower!”</b>
</p><p>At the sight of the flower, many of the monsters’ moods began to darken, recognizing it as the fiend who had absorbed all their souls and tried to murder Frisk with them. </p><p><em> “If the weed was talking to the kid this early on,” </em> Sans mused inwardly, <em> “That could be the reason the kid tried out so many different timelines.” </em></p><p>
  <b>Frisk giggled slightly, their initial fear fading. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>The flower hummed curiously. “You’re new to the UNDERGROUND, aren’tcha?” Flowey asked. In the background, a strange childishly cheerful song was playing. It did not sound like the song was coming from anywhere in the room, but rather that it was playing behind the scene on the screen.</b>
</p><p>“Uhh… Okay, this whole thing is weird enough already, what’s with the music?” Alphys asked tentatively. The other monsters had no answer for her, all of them just as confused by the song as the scientist. Well… except for Papyrus. </p><p>“It’s the soundtrack!” He exclaimed. </p><p>“I’m sorry, what?” Sans deadpanned. </p><p>“It’s the soundtrack.” Papyrus reiterated. “Movies and TV shows have them as well. This song must be a reflection of how Frisk views Flowey- at least, at the moment. I bet we’ll hear loads of other songs as Frisk meets the rest of us and goes to different places in the Underground!”</p><p>Most of the gathered monsters didn’t know what to do with this information, Undyne, however, was vibrating with excitement. Jumping up and standing on the couch. </p><p>“It’s just like an anime!” She yelled. “Oh man, I bet I’ll have a cool battle theme. Hey Alph, do you think this’ll have one of those opening themes too?!”</p><p><em> “God I hope not,” </em>said Chara, though no one heard him. </p><p>
  <b>“Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>In an instant, the colors of the world shifted to harsh black and white as Flowey initiated a battle. A red heart also appeared, seemingly plastered to Frisk’s shirt. At the bottom of the screen, a small yellow bar appeared, showing Frisk’s current HP to the audience of monsters. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“See that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of you being!” Flowey said. Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. What’s LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course!”</b>
</p><p>Sans let out a bark of laughter that he quickly attempted to hide with a cough. Unfortunately, Toriel had noticed.</p><p>“What is it, Sans?”</p><p>“Nothing,” he replied, trying to sound as casual as possible. “I just can’t believe how corny this flower is acting.” </p><p><em> “And how manipulative it’s being,” he thought. “If Frisk got the idea that LV is a good thing. That would explain their choice to kill in the original timeline. But what drove them to kill after that? After I told them the truth.” </em> Sans sighed, he needed to relax, he’d get his answers eventually. <em> “One things for sure though, I’m gonna stomp that weed into the dirt next time I see it.” </em></p><p>
  <b>“You want some LOVE, don’t you? Don’t worry, I’ll share some with you!” Flowey’s wink was emphasized by a golden sparkle and a stuck-out tongue, making him look sickeningly cute. Frisk giggled again. Flowey then summoned five seeds in an arching formation over his head which the gathered monsters watching recognized instantly as bullets. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Down here, LOVE is shared through… Little white… “Friendliness pellets.””</b>
</p><p>At this most of the monsters burst into general outrage over the Flower’s blatant lies, with several of them even trying to warn Frisk, forgetting in their panic that the child could not hear them and that these events had already happened. </p><p>
  <b>“Are you ready?” Frisk nodded. “Move around! Get as many as you can!”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk began to skip forward, one hand outstretched to grab a “friendliness pellet” as it drifted towards them. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>One hit and Frisk cried out in pain and shock falling down on their back. As they looked at Flowey, their face was contorted in confusion and betrayal. Flowey, instead of his goofy smile, now bore a wicked grin. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“You idiot,” he said. “In this world, it’s kill or BE killed. Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this!?”</b>
</p><p>“CAUSE NOT ALL OF US ARE FLOWERY DICKS WITH NO HONOR!” Shouted Undyne.</p><p>“Undyne! Language!”</p><p>“Oh, sorry Toriel. But I am right. And besides Frisk is asleep upstairs.”</p><p>“Be that as it may, I still do not approve of such language. No matter how much of a “<em> dick” </em> someone may be.”</p><p>“But he’s trying to murder Frisk,” Undyne protested, pointing back to the screen.</p><p>
  <b>Instead of five bullet seeds, this time Flowey summoned dozens of them, trapping Frisk in the center of them all. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“DIE.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The circle began to grow smaller around Frisk and Flowey laughed in a strange distorted voice as Frisk realized they had no chance of escape. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Just as all hope seemed lost however, the familiar sound of healing magic was heard and Frisk’s health bar was filled again and the magic bullets were dispelled. A burning orange blur appeared from the right side of the screen, hitting the flower and sending him flying out of the battle arena. </b>
</p><p>A large sigh of relief swept over the room as the monsters recognized Toriel’s fire magic saving Frisk. And sure enough, the boss monster herself appeared from the same direction only a moment later. </p><p>
  <b>A new song began to play, with a melody much softer and sweeter than the last one. The song sounded almost like a lullaby or a music box. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth,” Toriel said. “Ah, do not be afraid, my child.” Toriel reached out her hand to help Frisk back onto their feet. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk did not immediately take the goat woman's hand, not fully over the betrayal of Flowey only moments ago Toriel gave the child a patient smile.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“You are the first human to come here in a long time. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs.” Toriel said before dispelling the magic arena. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Once again Frisk hesitated to take the woman's hand. But, she had healed them and saved them from Flowey, so maybe, they thought, they could trust her after all. Frisk took her hand and let Toriel pull them to their feet. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“This way.” Frisk followed. </b>
</p><p>While the others were relieved that Toriel had come to Frisk’s rescue, Toriel herself was rather troubled. </p><p>
  <em> “This is not how this happened,” she thought. “The first time I encountered Frisk was not with that Flower and they certainly were not hurt in any way.” </em>
</p><p>
  <b>The next room was lit much better than the previous two. Above Frisk, an old stained glass window let streams of sunlight into the room, casting the magenta floor and walls with a rainbow of light. On the ground, vibrant red leaves littered the ground before two large curving white staircases. Before Frisk could follow Toriel up the stairs however, they noticed a fair sparkle emanating from the pile of leaves in front of them. They walked towards them and reached for the light. Once again the sound of healing magic could be heard but this time, the faintest whisper of a boy’s voice could be heard. Most of what the voice said was to quiet to be heard, but one word came out clearer than all the others: </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>“-determination.”</em> </b>
</p><p>For an instant, both Toriel and Asgore could feel their hearts stop. They knew that voice. </p><p>
  <em> “But that is impossible,” Asgore though. “He is dead. He has been dead for a long time. It could not possibly- could it?” </em>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk’s head whipped around the room, looking for the source of the mysterious voice. Finding none, they looked to Toriel, who once again smiled down at them. It seems as though she had not heard the voice. And so Frisk continued on. </b>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry this chapter took a bit longer to write than the others. I had to get some story planning out of the way first though. I'm going to have Frisk go through as many neutral runs as I can while still having it make sense for the story, so I had to figure out which endings would make the cut and in what order I was going to have them. </p><p>Anyway thank you to all who left kudos and comments, I appreciate it more than you can imagine.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Waiting in the ruins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Something is not right here,” said Toriel.</p><p>“What do you mean, your majesty?” Asked Undyne.</p><p>“The events being shown here… they are almost nothing like what really happened. While many of the words spoken by my counterpart on the screen are words I spoke to Frisk when we met, just as many are not at all. When I met Frisk in the ruins they were not in any danger and I certainly do not recall seeing that horrid flower anywhere around either. Honestly, I am beginning to question the validity of these tapes.”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know if we should judge them that quickly,” Sans interjected. “I mean, you just said that even though the show hasn’t gotten everything right, it has followed other things you’ve said to a T. And I mean it’s not like anyone could have been there to overhear you say those things- Doctor Alphys didn’t even have any cameras in the Ruins at this point.”</p><p>“That is true, but-”</p><p>“Look, Tori, I’m not saying you have to trust this thing blindly, but just give it some breathing room. Maybe we’ll end up getting a reason why all these differences keep popping up.”</p><p>“I suppose you are right, Sans, there is no harm in watching these through to the end.”</p><p>
  <b>Upon entering the next room Toriel began to give a demonstration and explanation of how the Ruins operate. Before following Toriel through the door Frisk stopped to read the sign on the wall:</b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>“Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk, not the middle road.”</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Given Frisk’s expression, it was clear that they had no clue as to what the sign meant.</b>
</p><p>“Well that’s cryptic,” Sans snarked, before mentally adding, <em> “and a little too on the nose.” </em></p><p>“Home was full of signs giving words of wisdom to passing monsters,” said Asgore. “Though, I can not recall who originally added that particular sign.”</p><p>
  <b>In the next room, Toriel asked Frisk if they would press the switches she had labeled so that they could move onto the next room. On the wall three yellow switched could be seen with the first two both having several large yellow arrows pointing to them.</b>
</p><p>The monsters in the room began to laugh lightly at Toriel’s “hints.” Toriel blushed slightly.</p><p>
  <b>Upon entering the next room Toriel began to explain how fights against monsters work before summoning a battle arena and motioning for Frisk to approach the training dummy.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk shifted their weight from foot to foot, clearly unsure of what to do next, they glanced at Toriel.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“When you are in a fight, try striking up a friendly conversation. Stall for time and I will come to resolve the conflict,” said Toriel, once again encouraging Frisk to approach the dummy. Frisk does so, hesitating for a few moments before stepping forward, as they did, four floating boxes appeared before them: “FIGHT,” “ACT,” “ITEM,” and “MERCY.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frist looked ponderously at the four boxes for a moment. Then, with no external action that the monsters could see, the “ACT” button glowed yellow for a moment before the four boxes disappeared and Frisk gave the dummy a tentative “Hello.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The dummy, obviously, gave no reply, but Toriel seemed happy and ended the fight. Toriel praised them.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The pair continued on. Toriel began to tell the child about the puzzle that was just ahead of them but was interrupted when a battle was initiated out of the blue. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>A Froggit had hopped up to Frisk. Once again the four boxes appeared in front of Frisk, but in their panic, the child did not take any of the presented options and called out for Toriel.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The goat-woman was at the child's side in an instant, determined to protect her new child. She glared at the Froggit disapprovingly until the frog monster skulled off in shame and embarrassment. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>The two then approached a large pool with a bridge extending to the other side, however, the walkway was covered in dangerous, gleaming spikes. Toriel began to shift nervously. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“This is the puzzle, but…” An idea seemed to strike her, “Here, take my hand for a moment.” The child obeyed and Toriel began to guide them across; whereever the pair stepped the spiked retreated into the bridge making the surface safe to walk on. </b>
</p><p>Sans chuckled lightly.</p><p>“No offense, Tori. But with all this hand-holding, how’d you expect the kid to fend for themselves at all in the Underground?”</p><p>“I did not expect them to,” was Toriel's solemn reply.</p><p>
  <b> In the next hallway, Toriel asked Frisk to traverse the room by themselves, apologizing profusely for having to do this to them. The child made it to the other side of the room with no trouble, staying on the path as Toriel had asked them. Upon reaching the other side, Toriel stepped out from behind a white pillar and told Frisk that she was sorry again but she had needed to test the child's independence. </b>
</p><p>The monsters once again laughed at Toriel’s overdramatic nature. Toriel's blush grew deeper. </p><p>
  <b>“I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while,” explained Toriel. “Please remain here. It’s dangerous to explore by yourself. I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone.” Toriel dug her hand into a pocket on her dress and pulled out an old-fashioned flip phone. “If you have a need for anything, just call. Be good, alright?” And with that, she turned on her heel and left the room. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk began to look around the room, not seeming sure what to do with themself. They flipped open the phone. There were no extra features beyond the standard dial pad and two other buttons to answer or hang up a call. There was only one number saved in the phone: Toriel. Frisk decided to call.</b>
</p><p>“That’s so adorable,” said Alphys. “You’re only gone for a minute and they already miss you enough to call.” Toriel’s smile widened.</p><p>“I don’ know,” interjected Sans, “maybe the kid just got bored.” Toriel frowned. “Heh… just a joke, your majesty.”</p><p>
  <b>The phone rang for only half a second before Toriel picked up.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“This is Toriel.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk looked flustered for a moment before they stuttered out: “Hi Toriel… I- um- only wanted to say: Hi… again…”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Salutations!” Toriel replied, trying her best to suppress a laugh. “Is that all?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“I don’ know,” Frisk said, shuffling their feet. Obviously they did not want to hang up and be left alone, but they had not come up with anything to keep Toriel on the phone. “What do you umm… nevermind.” And with that, they hung up.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>A few more minutes passed and it became clear that Toriel would not be back anytime soon so Frisk went over to sit down against the pillar she had been hiding behind.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The phone rang. Frisk answered:</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Hello?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Hello! This is Toriel. My errands are taking longer than I thought they would. You would not mind waiting another five minutes, would you?”</b>
</p><p><b>From the expression on Frisk’s face, it was clear that they </b> <b> <em>would </em> </b> <b>mind waiting another five minutes, but did not voice that to Toriel and instead resigned themself to more waiting.</b></p><p>
  <b>“Thank you for being patient,” Toriel said before hanging up.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The phone rang again.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Hello.”</b>
</p><p><b>“Hello again, my child. Well, I found what I was looking for, but before I could take it a strange white dog snatched it away. How odd. Do dogs even </b> <b> <em>like</em> </b> <b> flour?”</b></p><p>Papyrus began to stutter in indignation, but before he could begin his tirade against his greatest rival, the annoying dog, Sans interrupted him.</p><p>“How did Toby get into the ruins?”</p><p>Papyrus went still. He turned to his brother, all his movements rigid and each of his words were spat out from painfully clenched teeth.</p><p>“You know that dog.”</p><p>“Yeah, his name’s Toby, I’ve had him since I was a kid. Well, that might be overstating it, he kinda just showed up at the house one day as a puppy.”</p><p>Papyrus exploded. “OF COURSE! IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW. IT WAS <em> YOU </em>WHO PUT THAT MEDDLING CANINE UP TO THE TASK OF PLAGUING MY EVERY WAKING MOMENT. WELL I SHALL STAND FOR IT NO LONGER! THIS JAPE BROTHER IS ONE STEP TO FAR! PREPARE FOR-”</p><p>“Woah, woah, woah. Slow down Pap. Toby is a free spirit. I’ve never made him do anything.”</p><p>Papyrus huffed. “Well. I still say that you should teach him not to steal from others. But I am sorry for accusing you, brother.”</p><p>“Yeah, you were really <em> barking </em> up the wrong tree.”</p><p>“I take back my apology!”</p><p>  Sans laughed. “Seriously though,” he mumbled to himself, “how <em>did</em> he get in there?”</p><p>
  <b>“Uh, on an unrelated note,” Toriel continued. “Do you prefer cinnamon or butterscotch?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Umm, well I’ve never had butterscotch before, so cinnamon, I guess,” Frisk answered.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Toriel paused for a moment. “But would you turn up your nose if you happened to find butterscotch on your plate?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk thought for a moment. “I’ll give it a try.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Ah, very good. I’ll see you soon, my child. Once I’ve chased down this puppy, of course.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Hello?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>There was no reply. All that could be heard was heavy breathing and dog barks. Frisk listened closer and finally, could make out the distant voice of Toriel. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Stop, please! Come back here with my cellphone.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk hung up.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The next time the phone rang, Frisk could hear the soft snores of the dog coming through the speaker. It seems the dog had gotten tired of running from Toriel. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Helloooooo? Little puppy?” Came Toriel’s voice. “I will give you a nice pat on the head,” The snoring stopped. “If you give me back my cellphone.” The snoring resumed. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Finally, after almost an hour, Toriel reentered the room looking slightly haggared. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Thank you for waiting, dear. I’m so sorry that took so long, but that puppy that stole my flower stole my phone as well. I apologize if you had tried to call me and got no answer, I did not mean to worry you.” Toriel held out her hand to Frisk again.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk stood up and took it, “It’s alright.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Well, let us continue.”</b>
</p><p>“I’m surprised you left the kid alone that long,” Undyne commented. “Given how overbearing you usually are.</p><p>Toriel huffed. “Well, I did not mean to leave them. Though, I have to say this, again, is not how I remember this happening this way. For one, I never encountered that dog in the ruins. But more to the point, Frisk did not wait for me in that hallway but had managed to traverse the ruins on their own.”</p><p>
  <b>After traversing the rest of the ruins, allowing Toriel to solve the puzzles along the way, the pair entered a room filled with the roots of a large, old tree growing on the surface. In front of them was the entrance to a large building. In front of the door on both sides were more large piles of the same vibrant red leaves. In the one on the left, Frisk saw the same golden light emanating from it as they had seen in the last one. Tugging on Toriel’s skirt the child pointed at the sparkle, but it seems that Toriel did not see it as she only told Frisk that they could play in the leaves if they wished but not to wander off.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Once Toriel had walked through the door, Frisk approached the pile of leaves and reached for the light again.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“House… ruins… determination.” It was the same voice as before, slightly clearer this time. Though it still sounded like it was far off.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Hello?” Frisk called out.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Silence.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk went inside.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Oh, that was quick,” said Toriel. “Well, welcome to your new home, my child. I want you to have a nice time living here, so I have a surprise planned for tonight. But first, follow me.” </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Toriel turned and walked into the hallway on the right side, Frisk followed taking Toriel’s hand once again. The stopped at the first door. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“This will be your room while you are here.” Toriel ruffled Frisk’s hair lovingly. “Why don’t you go rest up, you must be exhausted.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The room given to Frisk was painted warm shades of red and orange. Frisk could see a large toy chest at the foot of the bed, as well as several plushies decorating the room, but they ignored them. Slipping off their shoes and then their sweater, Frisk climbed under the warm covers and drifted off.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>When they awoke a pair of shining red eyes were staring back at them, and they were not Toriel’s. Frisk yelped in surprise, falling off of the bed. </b>
</p><p>Both Toriel and Asgore could feel their hearts stop. Together, breathless and disbalieving they spoke:</p><p>“Chara.”</p><p>Silence overtook the room. Alphys was the first brave enough to break it.</p><p>“Ch-Chara? You mean like the first fallen human? But I thought he was…” </p><p>“He is,” Asgore said, and the pain in his voice was clear. “I do not… understand.”</p><p>Chara himself was trying something he hadn’t attempted for many resets. Calling out to his adoptive parents, hoping that they might be able to hear him. But, just as all his other attempts had, they fell on deaf ears.</p><p>
  <b>In a panic, Frisk scrambled to the otherside of the room.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Who- who are you?” They demanded.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Who am I? Who are you?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk looked confused, unsure of what to say. Finally, they answered:</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“My name’s Frisk, I’m eight.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Well Frisk, my name is Chara and I’m thirteen… or I guess I was…” </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Having calmed down, Frisk was able to study the boy more thoroughly. The boy was almost a foot taller than Frisk and clearly older by a few years. With chestnut brown hair and red eyes, he wore a sweater, not unlike Frisk’s own, but it was green instead of blue and had a single, large golden stripe in place of two smaller purple ones. He crossed his arms. But the most abnormal thing about his appearance was the fact that he was almost seethrough. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk gasped. “Are you a ghost?!” </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Uhh… I guess so.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk’s expression became fearful again as a horrible thought struck them. “Did Toriel kill you?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“What!? No! Mom would never hurt me!” Cried Chara. Frisk let out a sigh of relief. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Wait- mom? But you’re a human?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara rolled his eyes. “Well, she’s not my “real” mom. But she adopted me after I fell down here, just like you.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Oh. How long have you been down here?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Well, I fell down here when I was about your age. So I guess I lived down here for five years. But beyond that, I don’t know.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“What do you mean “You don’t know?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“I kinda… just woke up.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“What?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“I don’t know. But I guess that’s why you couldn’t hear me at first. I wasn’t even sure what was happening myself.” </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Well, how come I can hear you? I mean, Toriel didn’t react to your voice that first time.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara seemed to grow sad. “I really don’t know. I tried talking to her while she was chasing that dog down. But even when I was screaming in her ear or standing right in front of her she didn’t notice me at all.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk was silent for a moment. “Do you want me to tell her?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“No!” Chara replied, startling Frisk. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. But… no. it’s probably best not to tell her. She’s just gonna be confused about how you know about me and probably hurt at the reminder. Or well… another reminder.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“What’s that mean?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Nothing, forget I mentioned anything. Why don’t we go see mom, she made her famous butterscotch-cinnamon pie for you. I’m sure you’ll love it.”</b>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>holy fuck this chapter almost killed me. tbh I thought about ending it earlier but I wanted to at least get to the introduction of Chara. So ya'll get an extra-long chapter this time. Also, I had several drafts of the Chara introduction written but I'm still not satisfied with it. But it just be like that sometimes. Also, in the game, you can't actually progress the game without leaving the room, but as this isn't a game and you don't have to go through a tutorial, I decided that it would make sense for Frisk, who is already scared enough, to remain right where Toriel told them to wait. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter and please leave any feedback you'd like.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Stay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“You know, all things considered,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Chara thought idly, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“they are taking this news extraordinary well.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It would seem that seeing their long-dead adopted human son appear on the screen was an event that neither the king nor queen had prepared for. Toriel, who was currently being held by Alphys, was either on the verge of tears or a panic attack. Asgore, by contrast, had entered a rage that none of his subjects had ever seen from him before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What kind of sick joke is this meant to be!?” He roared. “How </span>
  <em>
    <span>dare </span>
  </em>
  <span>you taunt us like this!” The king raised one of his large paws, intending to bring it down on the DVDs before him, but Undyne quickly lept from her seat and caught his arm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Asgore, you need to calm down,” Undyne said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Calm down? How could I possibly act calm after such a cruel joke?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You sure it’s a joke?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can not possibly believe this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Human souls are meant to be able to stick around way longer than monsters’”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But not for </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>long. We kept the six human souls in special containers for that very reason. It is impossible for Chara’s soul to still be around.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well,” came the timid voice of Alphys, “I wouldn’t say it’s entirely impossible.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Toriel looked up at the scientist, eyes filled with both hope and fear. “What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I- I mean.” Alphys swallowed. “From my studies on the human souls, I found that at the core of each human, is a power I named “Determination. I did a test once, comparing the different souls, I wanted to find out why human souls all looked different- color-wise that is. During the test, I noticed that the amount of Determination at each souls' core was different. Now, I can’t say that this is the reason for the souls' differing looks, but I did speculate that, since Determination is what allows human souls to persist after death, the souls with more Determination would take a longer time to fade away. Though, I never could test the theory for obvious reasons.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So Chara’s soul may have had more Determination in it than the average human soul and that’s why they stuck around so long,” interjected Papyrus.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alphys nodded. “I-I can’t say for sure though.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But none of the other human souls ever took on human forms,” rebutted Asgore. “And, beyond that, if Chara really were here, why has he not made himself known to me or Toriel?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t have all the answers, Asgore.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That answer didn’t seem to satisfy Asgore, but Undyne interrupted his next tirade. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think you may be onto something there, doc.” Alphys blushed at her words. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Asgore,” Toriel’s voice was only a whisper, but it cut through Asgore like a knife, hearing her so vulnerable. “I’d like to keep watching. I-I don’t trust these tapes either but… I want to hear his voice again, even if it is fake…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The silence that followed was long and empty as the other monsters held their breath. Asgore seemed to tremble slightly as his eyes met Toriel’s. He could see the slightest trace of tears that had fallen before she could stop them. The king inhaled deeply, let out a weary sigh, and sat back down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The next few days were some of the best Frisk had ever known. Each morning they awoke to a freshly cooked breakfast, and every evening they tucked in after a slice of pie and glass of warm milk. They had washed all the grime from their body and Toriel had sown up the holes in their sweater. They had a room all their own, more toys than they could dream of and, to top it all off, they had a new friend to spend all their time with. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>It was on the sixth morning living with Toriel that things changed.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“My child, I’m afraid you are going to have to stay here on your own for a short while. I’m afraid we have almost run out of ingredients and I will need to go out and buy some more. I hope you do not mind.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“I’ll be fine, mom!”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Toriel blinked in surprise, but a smile was overtaking her expression. “Did you just call me “mom”?” Frisk blushed and looked down in embarrassment. “Well, I- would that make you happy? To call me “mother”?” Frisk hesitated for a moment before nodding. Toriel’s smile grew wider, “Alright then. Be good, my child.” And with that she left.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“I guess I’m rubbing off on you,” said Chara. “There’s no need to be embarrassed, Frisk.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk looked slightly skeptical but decided not to say anything. After a long silence Chara spoke again:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Sooooooooooo, you wanna go snoop?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“What?” Frisk sputtered out.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Oh come on, it’ll be fun.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Once again Frisk looked at Chara skeptically. “Toriel told us not to do anything bad…”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“We’re not gonna do anything bad, Frisk. You worry too much, Toriel would never get mad at you for just looking around the house.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk considered this for a moment. “Alright, but promise we won’t mess for any of mom’s things.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Chara rolled his eyes, but still said “I promise.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>First, they went into the kitchen. Chara had sworn he’d seen a chocolate bar in the fridge and insisted that Frisk needed to try it. Unfortunately, Toriel had a lock on the fridge that Frisk could not open. So instead the pair decided to sneak the slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie and keep it in an old lunchbox they’d found in Frisk’s room. There was a mirror in the hall, and Frisk stopped in front of it. While their reflection came out crystal clear, Chara, who was standing right next to them, could not be seen.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“It’s you!” Said Chara, seemingly unperturbed by this.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Next, they went into Toriel’s room. Chara wanted to read the puns in mom’s journal, but Frisk vetoed as they thought it was an invasion of her privacy. Frisk then found a book on plants in the underground and they began to flip through it trying to find each plant in Toriel’s house.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“So, I think that ones this type of cactus,” Frisk said, pointing to the plant in the corner.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Ah, the cactus. Truly the most tsundere of plants.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alphys couldn’t hold back her laugher.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Soon though, the exhausted the main floor and decided to see what was downstairs. After descending, Frisk and Chara found themselves in a long hallway made from the same purple bricks as the rest of the ruins. At the end of the hall they came across a large doorway that, no matter how hard Frisk tried, they couldn’t open.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m guessing that’s the exit?” Said Sans. Toriel nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>At the same time, this was happening, Toriel had just arrived home and was now looking for Frisk. Unable to find them, she grew apprehensive and rushed down the staircase to the exit of the ruins. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“There you are, my child,” Toriel said upon finding Frisk. “It seems you’ve been exploring while I was away.” She extended her hand towards the child. “Come along now, why don’t we go bake something together.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk did not take Toriel’s hand right away. “Mom, where’s this door go?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Nowhere,” replied Toriel, a bit too sharply. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk was startled by the tone of her voice, Frisk flinched away.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“I’m sorry, my child, I did not mean to frighten you. Please let us just go back upstairs now.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk hesitated. “Is there a bad guy behind the door? Like the flower?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“A bad guy?” Toriel sighed, retracting her hand. “I suppose you could say that… Behind this door lies the exit to the ruins and the rest of the underground.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“What’s wrong with that? I mean… that flower was mean and stuff but not all monsters can be bad. You’re not bad.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“You naive child. I have seen it again and again. Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. They come. They leave. They die.” Toriel moved around Frisk, placing one hand on the door. “If you leave the ruins… they… </b>
  <b>
    <em>Asgore… </em>
  </b>
  <b>will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? Now go back to your room.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk did not move.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Please, my child.” Toriel’s voice was strained as if every word hurt her. “Go back to your room.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Still Frisk did not move.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“You want to leave? Is that it? Fine then.” Toriel turned. “You are just like the others. Well then, prove yourself. Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Toriel initiated a battle. Once again four options appeared before Frisk and their burning red soul became visible.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>thought Chara, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“If they weren’t freaking out before, they will be after this.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk chose to ACT, trying to talk their way through a battle like Toriel had told them to. But from their lost expression it was clear they could not think of anything to say. Toriel attacked.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>As a wave of fire came barreling towards the child they panicked and threw their arms in front of their face. The magical fire hit the child and damaged their soul. Frisk stumbled backward at the force. Toriel had not meant to really hurt the child, only give some tough love, but it was clear she had miscalculated as her firm expression turned to one of surprise and horror while she watched Frisk trip over their own feet as they tried to get away and fall right into another wave of fire.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The screen went black and Frisk’s soul shattered.</b>
</p>
<p>Toriel screamed.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay this chapter turned out rather different than I originally intended. But as I was writing I found that it was necessary for the watching monsters to start talking about the nature of human souls with the appearence of Chara. I also, spent a lot of time deliberating when I wanted Frisk's death to first take place. Originally, I had wanted it to be to a snowdrake or something else they might encounter outside the ruins. But given how distrustful of the tapes Agore and Toriel were becoming, I thought the reveal should probably happen before Frisk *really* fought Toriel.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Try again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“NO! I DIDN’T- I COULDN’T!” Toriel had gone into full-on hysterics. First Chara’s ghost and now seeing Frisk die at her hands, it had become far too much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Asgore seemed conflicted, he wanted desperately to run over to his ex-wife and comfort her, but he also knew that any comfort he had to offer she would not want. Instead, Undyne was the one to wrap her strong arms around the queen, while Alphys and Papyrus rushed over to help calm her down. The former queen’s cries of anguish filled the living room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sans, though concerned for his friend, was also thinking as fast as he could of what to say once the queen calmed down enough. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“She definitely won’t want to continue now,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“But I need to know. I need to know why the kid-” </span>
  </em>
  <span>He let out a sigh. It would seem that despite his strong desire to destroy these videos, he had an even stronger desire preventing him from doing so. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“That kid put me through hell, don’t I have the right to know why?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>He rationalized to himself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“How much time did the resets add up to? With all the kids, and the weeds before that? How many times have I had to live through my brother's death?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>At some point, everything just blurred together. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“If I can just convince them to watch for another five minutes… They’d see what the kid can do and…”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a while before the queen’s loud wails reduced to subdued sobs and then reduced again into nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think Asgore was right, there is obviously just someone's cruel idea of a joke and we are wasting our time with them when we could be helping Frisk.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bu-but, the letter said-” started Alphys.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do not care what the letter said!” Snapped Toriel.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tori,” it was Sans that spoke this time. “Do you trust me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toriel seemed taken aback. “Of-of course I do Sans, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then just please keep watching. Just for a few more minutes. Please?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toriel was about to object, but then she saw Sans’ expression. There was a desperation there; one she never expected from the skeleton. For a moment it made her forget her anger and sorrow and she nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of the monsters were so surprised at this that it took them a few moments to realize that she had given them all permission to keep watching. But soon everyone had sat back down in their seats and a heavy tension rested over all of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>The inky blackness that had taken over the screen remained for a half a dozen heartbeats, and then:</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“You cannot give up just yet… Chara! Stay determined…”</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“That- That’s me,” said Asgore, stunned. “I said those exact words to Chara before he… before he died.”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Then Frisk opened their eyes. They were back in bed. The child sat up. The clock on the wall said it was morning.</b>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“W-what?” Asked Toriel. “I thought I-”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Suddenly, footsteps could be heard coming down the hall. Frisk quickly lied back down, shutting their eyes and pretending to be asleep. Toriel entered the room, but seeing Frisk was still asleep she left, coming back a moment later with a note. Setting it down by Frisk’s bed, she gave the human child a kiss on the forehead and left the room, shutting the door behind her. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk did not rise right away but instead waited a few minutes to make sure that Toriel wasn’t coming back. Then the child threw the covers off and grabbed the note. Toriel apparently needed to go into the ruins to get more supplies for the two of them and might not be back for a while.</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought you’d already done that?” Questioned Papyrus.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>“Chara?” Frisk called out. Frisk swung their legs over the side of the bed before standing up. “Chara?” They called again, slightly louder this time. “This isn’t funny Chara! Come out now.” But nobody came. Frisk began to search the house. </b>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t understand,” said Toriel. “I thought I had killed them. I mean- I know I did not kill Frisk in real life, but in this…”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well, it’s now or never,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sans thought. “You did.” The other watchers turned to look at him as if he was crazy. <strike>Which, at this point…</strike></span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a different timeline… or it’s the same timeline just replayed…” The disbelieving looks continued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Brother, what are you talking about.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sans sighed. “Doc, earlier you were talking about human souls and magic and Determination and all that.” Alphys nodded. “You said that your theory was that a human soul with more Determination would stick around long after death than one that didn’t… Well, what if a human soul had a lot of Determination? And I mean </span>
  <em>
    <span>a lot.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sans,” Alphys started, shaking her head. “That’s not possible… I mean- that’s a stretch; To go from a durable soul to one that can manipulate the time-space continuum. How would you even prove it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I lived through it,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought bitterly but didn’t voice the thought. “The kid told me. Those lights that Frisk has been seeing, but that none of us can? Those are “Save Points. If the kid dies- or even if they just feel like it- they can go back to their last Save Point.” The others looked at each other baffled, trying to process this information.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, but what makes you think this has anything to do with Determination? Did Frisk say something about it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, but I think it’s a safe assumption. I mean, both times the kid’s encountered a Save Point we’ve been able to hear Chara say the word “determination” even if we couldn’t make out the rest. Also, now the kid died, and before they woke up, they end up hearing Asgore’s voice telling Chara to stay determined and not die.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The heavy silence once again overtook the room. Papyrus was the first one to give voice to the question on almost all their minds:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So then, how many times has Frisk died?”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>After checking every room and still not finding Chara, Frisk went back into their room, climbed into bed, pulled the covers over their head, and began to cry. Soon the child had worn themself out and they let unconsciousness reclaim them. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>When they awoke, a pair of familiar red eyes were looking at them. Frisk shot out of bed.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Chara!”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Greetings.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Chara, what happened? After I passed out.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara’s smile fell. “You didn’t pass out Frisk.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“What?-”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“You died.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk frowned. “That’s not funny Chara.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Frisk, I need you to listen to me.” He walked over to the younger child and crouched down so to be at eye level with them. “A long time ago, humans had magic, just like monsters. That magic is how they sealed monsters in the underground. Now, I don’t know what happened between then and now, but I guess humans lost their magic… or most of it, at least.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“What are you saying, Chara?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“I’m saying that you have magic, Frisk." Frisk’s eyes widened half in awe and half in confusion. “I think that when a human falls into the underground, that maybe their magic “awakens” or something.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“So, I can time travel?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara sighed, “in simple terms, yes. You can probably do a few other things as well.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Like what?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“To be honest, I’m not really sure. I know that those golden lights we keep seeing have something to do with it, I used to see them too, when I was alive that is. But I never used them. But anyway, what do you wanna do now? I’m assuming that downstairs is out of the question.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“No, I want to go,” Frisk said firmly. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara was shocked by this. “What? Why?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“I don’t know. It’s just…” Frisk paused, trying to find the right words. “When we saw that door I just got this feeling. Like something was telling me I </b>
  <b>
    <em>had </em>
  </b>
  <b>to go through. Like I needed to do something out there, in the underground. Does that make sense?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Not really,” Chara deadpanned. “But if you’re sure…”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“I am.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara grew quiet as if lost in thought. A look of apprehension overtook his face that he did his best to hide from Frisk. “Let’s go to the kitchen,” he finally said.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>In the kitchen, he asked Frisk to open various draws for him. He was looking for something, but when Frisk asked what he just waved his hand dismissively.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“It doesn’t matter,” he said.</b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Oh I’m sure it doesn’t,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sans thought dryly.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>“Here, Frisk, why don’t you take this last slice of pie and go put it in that lunchbox we found. I need to go find something.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk did as Chara suggested. After looping the handle of the lunchbox through one of the belt loops on their shorts, Frisk sat down to wait for Chara. However, it did not take Chara very long to find what he was looking for and soon he reappeared, beckoning Frisk to follow him. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Where are we going?” Frisk asked.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Mom said that we’re gonna encounter bad guys in the underground… so I figured we might need something to help fight them.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara took Frisk out the front door and back into the ruins. Past the old tree and back into the hall, they walked into a side hallway. Laying on the ground was a toy knife. Frisk picked it up and put it in their pocket. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Come on now, mom will be back soon.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>When Toriel got back, Frisk was hesitant to bring up the exit. It took some encouragement from Chara for them to finally go up to her and ask when they could leave. Toriel’s expression at hearing this was one of distraught and disbelief and she quickly dismissed herself. Frisk followed. As they went downstairs Toriel told Frisk that she was going to destroy the exit to the ruins, warning Frisk to go back to their room and running through the same speech she had last time about the other children that had stayed with her. Finally, they reached the door and the fight begun again.</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Toriel inhaled sharply. She had already guessed what was about to happen. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“If this truly is not our timeline.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <b>This time Chara watched Frisk’s back and told them where to move and dodge when needed. For the first few rounds Frisk tried again to talk Toriel out of fighting, but it was futile. Another stream of fire burst from Toriel’s hands. Frisk wasn’t quick enough to dodge. At the bottom of the screen, Frisk’s HP was visible to the watchers: 3/20.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Frisk,” Chara called out. “Eat the pie.” Frisk did so. HP: 20/20. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Jumping out of the way of Toriel’s next attack, Frisk seemed to realize that there was no way to convince Toriel to stop fighting. They attacked. It took several rounds but eventually, Toriel’s HP reached zero and she fell to her knees.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“You are stronger than I thought,” Toriel’s voice was strained. “Listen to me, small one…  If you go beyond this door, keep walking as far as you can. Eventually, you will reach an exit.” Toriel’s breath became ragged and it took a few seconds for her to begin speaking again. “Asgore… Do not let Asgore take your soul. His plan cannot be allowed to succeed.” Toriel gasped, her every breath becoming a strained wheeze. “Be good, won’t you? </b>
  <b>
    <em>My child.”</em>
  </b>
  
</p><p>
  <b>Her body turned to dust, almost indistinguishable from flour. For a moment a white monster soul could be seen. It shook for a moment. Then it broke in half and shattered. </b>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Keep moving forward</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Chara watched Frisk as the younger child walked despondently down the corridor. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Frisk?” He called tentatively. Frisk said nothing. </b>
</p><p>The watchers found themselves in a similar state. Unable to speak. Some unable to think- to process what they just witnessed.</p><p><em> “First the kid’s death, now Tori,” </em> thought Undyne. <em> “How much fucking worse could this possibly get?” </em>A feeling in her gut told her that she didn’t want to know the answer to that, but that she would get it all the same. She decided to break the silence. “So that’s what you meant,” she said to Toriel. “When you said that you didn’t expect the kid to have to defend themself. You didn’t intend for them to leave.”</p><p>Toriel gave a soft but deliberate nod. </p><p>“Damn, Toriel that’s…” She drifted off unable to finish her sentence. The former queen had been willing to potentially traumatize her adoptive child and lay down her own life to prevent them from walking into what she thought was certain death. <em> “And what would you do?” </em> Undyne’s conscience seemed to ask her. <em> “What if it were Alphys or Papyrus walking to their death? How far would you be willing to go to protect them?” </em>She pushed the thought away, instead turning back to Toriel. “I have to say… Um… you’re taking this comparatively better than Frisk’s… ya know.”</p><p>Toriel gave a soft smile that held no humor in it. “When I blocked Frisk’s way, I fully intended for the child to kill me. I was ready to accept my death.” She paused. “Though actually <em> seeing </em> myself die is not in any way a pleasant experience, it is far easier to watch than the child I was trying so hard to protect get hurt and killed, especially at my own hand.” </p><p>
  <b>Finally, the two children reached the end of the hall and reached another dark cavern. And again Flowey was waiting for them.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk's gaze was squarely focused on the ground, not acknowledging the flower. The flower laughed mockingly.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“I hope you like your choice. After all, it’s not like you can go back and change fate. In this world, it’s kill or be killed.” Flowey’s smile turned smug. “That old hag thought she could break the rules.”</b>
</p><p>Most of the monsters darkened as Flowey began to mock the now dead queen.</p><p>
  <b>“She tried so hard to save you humans. But when it came down to it…” Flowey’s expression turned demonic as he began to laugh again. “SHE COULDN’T EVEN SAVE HERSELF. WHAT AN IDIOT!!”</b>
</p><p><em> “You know nothing, flower,” </em> Toriel thought to herself, suppressing a bit of rage in her heart. <em> “There is another way, and Frisk will prove that to you. I know they will.” </em></p><p>
  <b>  At those words, Frisk seemed to snap out of their trance and began to charge Flowey with the toy knife, but the flower disappeared into the ground, leaving no trace he was ever there besides the dying echos of his laughter.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk fell to the ground. Pulling their knees to their face they began to sob. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara bit his lip, clearly concerned for Frisk but not entirely sure what to do. Finally, he walked over to the other child and, kneeling down, he wrapped his arms around Frisk. It was an awkward hug, as Chara had no physical form and Frisk could not actually feel Chara’s arms around them. But it was sweet nonetheless. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>The two sat there for many minutes as Frisk continued to wail and Chara continued to whisper that it was okay. Finally, Frisk’s cries had become no more than weak hiccups and they wiped the tears from their face with the sleave of their sweater. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Frisk?” Chara prompted, unsure. “Frisk, are you alright?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“No,” they sniffled. “I- I killed her.”</b>
</p><p>The mix of horror and torment in Frisk’s voice tore at the monsters. Toriel could feel her heart shattering. </p><p>
  <em> “I am sorry, my child. I was only trying to protect you. I never meant- I never…” </em>
</p><p>
  <b>“I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing to ask… I just…” Chara drifted off.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Just what?” Asked Frisk, their eyes red and puffy.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Just… What now?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk looked down as if studying their feet. The silence dragged on for several minutes. Finally, Chara looked like he was about to say something, however, Frisk beat him to the punch.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“We keep going,” they said determinately. “I still have that feeling. Something telling me that I need to go out there. I won’t make you go if you don’ wanna. I know that you probably-”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Frisk,” Chara interrupted. “I go where you go. No matter what.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk let out a sigh of relief, clearly having feared that Chara would abandon them after what they did. “So, shall we?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisk nodded, rubbing their eyes one more time, before following Chara out the door.</b>
</p><p>“I think that would be a good place to break for the moment,” Toriel said briskly, pausing the movie. “If you’ll excuse me,” she said before fleeing the room in a whirl of violet skirts. </p><p>It took a second for the others to fully process the queen's exit. They looked around at each other awkwardly. Abruptly, Asgore stood up.</p><p>“I shall go check on her,” he said before also disappearing from the room.</p><p>“Welp,” said Sans. “If we’re talking a break, Imma get something to drink. Y’all want anything?” No one replied. “Alright then,” and with that, he left.</p><hr/><p>Rushing into her room and shutting the door behind her, Toriel took a few moments to steady her breath. She turned, walking over her vanity.</p><p><em>“Stars, I look like a mess,” </em>she thought. Her eyes had become puffy from her crying earlier, and the fur around her eyes and cheeks had become matted down by the wet tears that had run down her face. <em>“This is too much. I thought I was strong enough, but I never thought that this would be what-” </em>A knock came at the door tearing Toriel away from her thoughts. She hesitated. She knew who was on the other side of that door: <em>“Asgore.”</em></p><p>After giving a tentative knock, Asgore began to wait for a response from Toriel. Nothing came. Nervously he tried calling out: “Toriel?” Again there was no response. He was just about ready to walk away and leave her alone as she clearly wanted when he heard from inside the room:</p><p>“Come in.”</p><p>Asgore entered the room, having to stoop his large form to fit through the doorway. He shut the door behind him. An awkward silence settled between the former couple, neither sure what to say first. </p><p>Toriel looked up at Asgore who was shifting his weight back and forth. And for a second it wasn’t King Asgore Dreemurr that she saw, but little Prince Asgore. With large golden eyes and fur littered with thorns and leaves, holding a bushel of wild roses out for her. She shook her head pushing the memory away.</p><p>“I know this may be a rather foolish question,” Asgore began. “But are you alright?”</p><p>Toriel let out a dry laugh, “No, though I think that much is apparent.”</p><p>“Would you like to talk about it?”</p><p>Toriel hesitated, and for a moment Asgore feared she was going to tell him to leave.</p><p>“It’s just… I never imagined that <em>this </em>is what those tapes would show us. I thought- I thought it would have to do with what happened with that flower after we were all absorbed by it. But this…?”</p><p>“I know what you mean. I expected that we would see Frisk in some dire situation when you explained the disks to me. But seeing Chara, seeing what Frisk went through… seeing what happened to you… it’s far more than anyone can process.”</p><p>“It’s more than that though. Frisk <em>died </em>because of me! And then seeing them after- after they killed me; how broken they were!” Toriel stopped, taking another deep breath. “Am I a bad person, Asgore? Am I a bad mother?</p><p>Asgore was shocked by this. “N-No! Of course not, Toriel!”</p><p>“But how could I not be? Chara and Asriel are dead. I could not protect any of the other six children, and then forcing Frisk to do that… I’m a monster.” Toriel began to cry again.</p><p>After a moment, Asgore spoke up again. “Tori… You are not a bad person. What happened to our children was not your fault in any way. And the deaths of the other children rests solely on my head. I am the one that made that decree. I am the one who was blinded by vengeance. As for Frisk… I cannot say whether your actions were right or wrong, and it is not my place to forgive you for them. We all make mistakes, Tori.” And with a rueful smile, he added, “Some of us more than others. It is Frisk you need to talk to about this. It is Frisk you need to ask for forgiveness from. Just as I do.”</p><p>Toriel was silent for a few moments. She wiped away unfallen tears, somberly nodding to Asgore. Another awkward silence overcame them.</p><p>“Shall we go back to the others?” Toriel finally suggested.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>originally this chapter was meant to be much longer. But as I was typing I kinda realized how much writing I had done so I've decided to split it up into the next few chapters. So this seemed like a good place for the first break since its the end of the ruins.</p><p>Anyway, that's the first section of the game squared away. I understand why Toriel does what she does, both in terms of the game and the story. But when you actually think about it, it's a little messed up and so I wanted to address it and the effects it would realistically have on Frisk to be attacked and forced to kill their mother figure. </p><p>Anyway, hope you all enjoy and expect another chapter soon.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Spooky scary skeletons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Me at 10:30 pm: Yeah I'll just beat Jevil and then post this chapter</p><p>Me at 4:50 am: Well then.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Papyrus, are you alright?” Alphys asked softly. “You’ve been rather quiet.”</p><p>“Nyeh? Oh, I am fine, Dr. Alphys, it’s just… I cannot say I understand all this talk of timelines and determination or how any of this works but… Frisk will be alright, won’t they? I mean, I know that there was everything that happened with Toriel. But Frisk will have our help for the rest of this, won’t they? They’ll solve puzzles with me and they’ll realize that they have someone to help them and we’ll-”</p><p>“Papyrus,” Undyne cut him off. “Think about when Frisk went through the underground- the time <em> we remember- </em> almost all of us fought them at some point. Asgore and I may have been the only ones intending to take their soul but… being such a little kid- confused and scared- it doesn’t matter if it’s you or me or Mettaton or <em> anyone </em>that they’re fighting, it’s not gonna go well.”</p><p>“B-but Frisk was always so good at dodging, even when I used my special blue attack on them.”</p><p>“Because they’d done it before, Papyrus! And who knows how many times!” Papyrus flinched away at her shouts. Undyne buried her face in her hands, trying to hold in her own anger at herself. With a sigh, she strained her fingers through her hair and looked back at Papyrus. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. This whole thing is just getting to me, ya know.”</p><p>Papyrus looked down. “Yes, I think I do.”</p><p>Soon the king and former queen reemerged and Sans shortly after.</p><p>“So, we all ready to keep watching?” Sans said, already picking up the remote.</p><p><b>It was cold. Frisk had their arms wrapped so tightly around their body that it seemed they might burst. The child huffed as they took large steps through snow piled over a foot high and their breath crystalized in front of them. Other than the sound of snow crunching under Frisk’d feet, the forest was quiet. There was nothing… nothing… </b> <b> <em>snap.</em> </b></p><p>
  <b>Frisk whirled around, trying to find the source of the sound. There was nothing. The last echos of the sound died and Frisk began walking again; eyes darting all around now on guard.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Trudging through the snow packed almost a foot high, the child began to grow exhausted, but still, the trail before them showed no indication of ending. It twisted left and right through the dense tree line, occasionally sloping downwards- never up.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Finally, after many more minutes of walking, Chara pointed out what seemed like a gated bridge just on the horizon.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“That should be good,” Chara started. “I mean we may run into monsters but monsters mean civilization is near and that means you can get warm. Hopefully, that gates not-” </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>Snap.</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b>It sounded closer this time. But still, as they looked around wildly, they still saw no one. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Frisk, we need to hurry,” Chara said. His voice cracked slightly, betraying a worry he didn’t want Frisk to see. They increased their pace. </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b>There were footsteps behind them, getting closer. Frisk tried to go faster, almost losing their shoe in the process. They reached the bridge and came to a screeching halt. It was barred. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>The footsteps them stoped. A shadow loomed behind them.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Human.” The voice was cold, like the sound of a frozen lake shattering. “Don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” It questioned. “Turn around and shake my hand.” Frisk seemed to want to remain rooted to their spot. “I said, turn around and shake my hand.” Mustering all the courage they had, Frisk turned to face the shadow blindly holding out their hand.</b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft. </em> </b>
</p><p>“I’m sorry, what?” Said Alphys.</p><p>
  <b>Equally confused, it would seem, as the watchers, Frisk looked up wide-eyed at the monster who had approached them. It was a skeleton in a blue parka. </b>
</p><p>All at once, Sans was hit over the head by his brother, Toriel, and Undyne. None hit him hard enough to hurt- they all knew how much HP he had, but it got their point across.</p><p>“Sans, you almost gave me a heart attack!”</p><p>“That was completely unnecessary, brother!”</p><p>“Really, were you trying to scare the kid to death!?”</p><p>“Oh come on guys! It was just an <em> ice breaker. </em> And you have to admit, the set up was perfect.” Sans said, smiling wider than usual if that was at all possible. </p><p>“That is not the point, Sans.” Toriel reprimanded. “The joke was entirely inappropriate both in timing and subject. What were you thinking?”</p><p>Sans just shrugged. <em> “I wanted to gauge the kid's reaction,” </em>he answered, though not out loud. </p><p><b>“Heh… the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick. It’s </b> <b> <em>always </em> </b> <b>funny.” Sans said. </b></p><p><b> <em>“I wouldn’t be so sure about that!” </em> </b> <b>shouted Chara, though the skeleton could not here him.</b></p><p><em> “Yeah. And it starts to get old after the third reset or so,” </em>thought Chara. </p><p>
  <b>“Anyways, you’re a human, right? That’s hilarious. I’m Sans. Sans the Skeleton.” Sans shoved his hands back into his pockets. “I’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now.” Frisk tensed. “But… ya know… I don’t really care about capturing anybody.”</b>
</p><p>Undyne turned to Sans. “Part of me so desperately wants to reprimand you for not doing your job. But I guess I should be thankful for your apathetic attitude this time.”</p><p>“Yes, brother, it seems your laziness has finally found a purpose in this world.”</p><p>“Aw, stop it you two. You’re makin’ me blush.”</p><p>“I can’t extend my compliments to your song, however.”</p><p>“My what?”</p><p>“Your song, brother. It began playing after your jape with the whoopie cushion.”</p><p>“Oh yeah, I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”</p><p>“It sounds goofy and lazy.”</p><p>“Well, then I guess it’s a good song for me.”</p><p><b>“Now my brother, Papyrus, he’s a human-hunting </b> <b> <em>fanatic.” </em> </b> <b>Sans paused for a moment, looking beyond Frisk to the clearing ahead. “Hey, actually, I think that’s him over there. I have an idea. Go through this gate thingy.” Frisk looked at him incredulously. “Yeah, go right through. My bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone.”</b></p><p>
  <b>Turning around and taking a second look at the gate, Frisk could see that the skeleton's words were true and that there was a large gap that would allow almost anyone to squeeze by. Though, in Frisk’s case, they could just walk through. </b>
</p><p>Papyrus blushed slightly.</p><p>
  <b>The two (plus Chara) entered the clearing.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp.” Sans pointed and Frisk turned to follow his gaze. Sure enough, on the ground, a few yards away was a blue and teal lamp. Frisk walked tentatively towards it, it was made in almost the exact image of a child their age, but with slightly larger proportions to allow them to hide behind it easily. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Stay behind the lamp. I’ll tell you what’s going on,” Chara said.</b>
</p><p>“Where did you even get a lamp like that?” Questioned Alphys. “And why did you have it just… there?”</p><p>Sans shrugged. “Bought it from Temmie. Use it as a reading lamp.”</p><p>“A-a reading lamp?”</p><p>“Yup.”</p><p>“In the middle of the forest?”</p><p>“Yup.”</p><p>“Where there’s no electricity.”</p><p>“Yup.”</p><p>“... Okay then.”</p><p>
  <b>As the screen cut away from Frisk a new song began playing and Papyrus ran into the clearing from the right.</b>
</p><p>Papyrus began to practically glow with excitement.</p><p>“SANS! Sans!” Papyrus grabbed his brother, pulling him into a side-hug. “Get the recording instruments! It’s my song! Hurry! Hurry! I don’t want to miss any of it.”</p><p>“Okay, okay.” Sans reached into his pocket awkwardly pulling out his phone as quickly as he could while his brother was practically squeezing the life out of him. </p><p>
  <b>“Sup, bro?” Sans asked innocently.</b>
</p><p><b>“You know what “sup,” brother!” Papyrus exclaimed, hands on his hips. “It’s been eight days and you </b> <b> <em>still</em> </b> <b> haven’t recalibrated. Your. Puzzles! You just hang around outside your station! What are you even doing?!?”</b></p><p>
  <b>“Staring at this lamp. It’s really cool. Do you wanna look?”</b>
</p><p>Papyrus froze. “Wait.”</p><p>
  <b>Papyrus began stomping his foot on the ground in indignation. “No!! I don’t have time for that!!” Turning on his brother. “I want to be ready!!! I will be the one! I must be the one! I will capture a human!”</b>
</p><p>“No.” Papyrus was coming to a very horrible realization.</p><p>
  <b>“Then, I, The Great Papyrus will get all the things I utterly deserve! Respect…  Recognition… I will finally be able to join the royal guard! People will ask, to be my, “friend?” I will bathe in a shower of kisses every morning.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Sans hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe this lamp will help you,” he said, casually. </b>
</p><p>“OH MY STARS! The human was there the whole time! And you were pointing me right to them!”</p><p>Sans began to laugh, his long-ago set-up joke finally given pay off.</p><p>The other monsters laughed at the skeleton brothers shenanigans, both on-screen and off. But Undyne couldn’t help but feel a pain in her heart, once again being reminded that the royal guard was Papyrus’ ultimate dream, and she had denied it to him for so long. </p><p><em> “But what else could I do?” </em>She thought. </p><p>
  <b>“Sans! You are not helping! You lazybones! All you do is sit and boondoggle!”</b>
</p><p><b>“Hey, take it easy. I’ve gotten a </b> <b> <em>ton </em> </b> <b>of work done today.”</b></p><p>“Oh no.” Papyrus groaned.</p><p><b>“A skele</b><b><em>ton.</em> </b> <b>”</b></p><p>The monsters began to laugh and groan and Sans’ antics, but that quickly turned to surprise at what happened next.</p><p>
  <b>Sans turned to the audience and gave a wink while two drum beats and a high hat sounded off.</b>
</p><p>“Sans… what…?” Toriel’s question died in her mouth as she was unsure where to even begin. </p><p>
  <b>Papyrus huffed in annoyance, trying to cover up the smile on his face. “Why does someone as great as me have to do so much just to get some recognition?”</b>
</p><p><b>“Wow,” said Sans. “Sounds like you’re really working yourself… </b> <b> <em>down to the bone.” </em> </b> <b>Once again Sans turned to the audience while a high hat sounded, his arms out as if awaiting laughter or applause. </b></p><p>“Sans did you… Are you… How…” Asgore tried saying.</p><p>“If you’re tryna ask whether I knew this was being recorded or if a made them, then no,” Sans answered.</p><p>“Then why were you looking at nothing?” Toriel questioned.</p><p>“I don’t know, it was just a joke. I saw something similar on a human show once. A season of it had fallen into the underground once. It was hilarious. And every once and a while a character would just look at the camera.” The others looked at him blankly. “Trust me, it’s great.”</p><p>
  <b>“Uhg!!! I will attend to my puzzles… as for your work? Put a little more, “backbone” into it.” And with that he was off, cackling all the way. Or at least he would be, he did come back into view once to punctuate his exit with a final “Heh!” Then he was gone.</b>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Take a shot anytime I use any variation of the word "seem" in this fic</p><p>Also, I think Pap is the most difficult of the characters to write. Because he's not an idiot, but he's still super innocent and kinda naive. So it's hard to get maintain that in emotional moments without making him sound completely oblivious. But even if writing him causes me pain I still love him. </p><p>Also, I've messed around with the spacing of the underground. There will be more of this later in the fic but in this instance, I wanted to make the exit to the ruins really seem like it was buried way into the forest. </p><p>Anyway I hope you all enjoy.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Walking in a winter wonderland</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Watch me spend a third of this chapter answering a question that absolutely none of you asked</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>“OK, you can come out now,” Sans called out. Frisk stood up from where they were behind the lamp and shuffled shyly over to where Sans was standing.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Umm, thank you,” they finally said. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Eh, don’t worry about it kid.” Sans waved his hand dismissively. “Anyways, you oughta get going. He might come back, and if he does you’ll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes.” He winked. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Right. Well, thank you… again,” Frisk stuttered out as they turned away. They were almost out of the clearing when:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Actually, hey… hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor?” Frisk turned back to the skeleton, curious. “I was thinking… my brother’s been kinda down lately… He’s never seen a human before. And seeing you might just make his day.” Frisk looked skeptical. “Don’t worry, he’s not dangerous. Even if he tries to be.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk thought about it for a moment, shuffling their feet awkwardly. “Alright,” they finally said. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Thanks a million. I’ll be up ahead.” Sans winked again and then walked off in the opposite direction.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“But that’s not…” Chara drifted off, looking back and forth between the direction Sans had gone and the direction he </b>
  <b>
    <em>should </em>
  </b>
  <b>have gone. He was only snapped out of his confusion when he noticed Frisk’s violent shaking. “Frisk? What’s wrong?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“N-nothing,” Frisk stuttered out through chattering teeth. “J-ust cold.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Chara bit his lip, concern clear on his face. “Come on, well find somewhere warmer.” Frisk only gave a curt nod in response and the pair continued on their journey. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Another light, golden and sparkling, caught Frisk’s eye. Shining from within a pile of snow just off the path. Once again Frisk reached out to it.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“The convenience of that lamp still fills you with determination.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk giggled. “I feel warm now.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Well that's good, but let’s not take any chances. It might fade.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Soon the oath they were on divulged. Chara suggested they check out what was on the northern path, but Frisk wasn’t keen on the idea:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Sans asked us to meet him up ahead. It’s rude to make him wait.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“I doubt he’d care that much, but alright. You’re calling the shots after all.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Hey, Chara, What’s this?” Chara walked over to where Frisk was standing. The other child was examining a large brown shape that seemed to have been recently covered by a recent snowfall.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Not sure,” he said. “Try pushing the snow off.” Frisk did so, uncovering a carved wooden box from beneath the pile. They opened it. Inside there was nothing but an old glove and a note. Frisk took the note first and read:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“This is a box. you can put an item in or take an item out. The same box will appear later, so don’t worry about coming back. Sen- Senc-”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Sincerely,” Chara supplied.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Oh. </b>
  <b>
    <em>Sincerely,</em>
  </b>
  <b> a box lover.” They set the note down, picking up the glove. It was made from worn, pink leather with five finger holes.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“If you wear this you’ll be dealing out tons of </b>
  <b>
    <em>tough glove,</em>
  </b>
  <b>” Chara joked.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sans barked out a laugh. “Okay, that was a good one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Papyrus looked at his brother questioningly. “I don’t get it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tough glove,” he explained. “Like tough love.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh no there’s more of them,” he said in disbelief, a look of horror overcoming his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Too bad it won’t keep your fingers warm,” he added.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The two kept walking, but as they did, Frisk’s shaking seemed to slowly return, the warmth they had felt earlier clearly fading from them. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Hey, Chara.”</b>
</p>
<p><b>“Yeah?”</b><b><br/></b> <b>“How does it snow here is it’s underground?”</b></p>
<p>
  <b>“Hm, I don't know. Magic, I guess.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a good question,” muttered Undyne. Then, turning to Alphys she asked, “So how does it snow in Snowdin?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Umm, well. I’m not entirely sure myself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Surely you must have a theory,” prodded Toriel.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, well.” She took a deep breath. “When I was studying the human souls, I got reports on their time in the underground and how they fought the monsters they encountered.” Toriel tensed at the mention of the other children. “It would seem that, besides having their own weapons and means of fighting, each human had some sort of ability that aided them. But no two souls had the same ability. At first, I theorized that the colors of the human souls would indicate that the human could wield magic similar to monster magic of the same color. Such as gravity magic for the dark blue soul, or Undyne’s magic for the green. But this did not seem to be the case.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uhhh, no offense, doc, but what does this have to do with why it snows in the underground,” Sans asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“O-oh! I’m getting there, don’t worry.” She said, slightly abashed after getting carried away in her explanation. “So, it’s clear that human magic works very differently than monster magic and that the type of magic that a human wields seems to be tied to the aspect of their soul. Now, Asgore.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When monsters were sealed underground, it wasn’t just one magic user that did it, correct?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Correct. The human king had several mages at his disposal.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right, and… from what I remember, Boss Monsters have the ability to see a human soul while it is still in the body, yes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That is correct, doctor,” Toriel answered. “It is a power unique to us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So do you remember if all the various mages had different soul colors?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d be hard-pressed to remember any specific colors, but yes, I do believe they were all different.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, so. The barrier is a unique piece of magic, even for humans, it would seem, as no one mage was able to do it on their own. So it is possible that many of the various biomes in the underground are residual marks left by the different mages magic as it relates back to their soul.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, you lost me,” interjected Undyne.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh… umm OK. let’s say that one of the mages who helped create the barrier had ice magic of some kind. It is possible that the snow in Snowin is a reflection of the portion of the barrier made up of that mages magic. Does that make sense?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not really. But hey, it doesn’t really matter.” Undyne said. “You did sound super smart while you were talking about it though.” Undyne winked. Alphys blushed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk and Chara continued to make their way through the woods, trying to find where Papyrus and Sans were. Suddenly, however, a battle was initiated. Frisk looked around wildly trying to see who was attacking them. The monsters that appeared from the woods looked somewhat like a dragon mixed with a bird, and the feathers on its face gave it the appearance of a large snowflake with a beak.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“It’s a Snowdrake,” Chara told Frisk. “He looks smaller than the ones I used to see. Maybe he’s just a kid?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Chara has been to Snowdin?” Papyrus asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh no,” answered Toriel. “He must be recalling the two Snowdrakes that were apart of our royal guard all those years ago.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Um, hi!” Frisk called out to the Snowdrake. The Snowdrake did not reply.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Guess he thinks he’s too </b>
  <b>
    <em>cool </em>
  </b>
  <b>for us,” Chara jokes, prompting Frisk to laugh. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Hey! What are you laughing at? I haven’t even told a joke yet!” The Snowdrake shouted indignantly. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The Snowdrake flapped his wing wildly, causing several feathers to fly off. As they did though they seemed to transform, becoming sharper and spinning around towards Frisk. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Frisk, jump to the right,” Chara called out. Frisk did so, avoiding the attack entirely. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Here, listen to this!” The Snowdrake shouted. “My fave ice cereals: frosted!”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sans cringed. “Ooo, that’s rough buddy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk and Chara seemed equally unamused, but Frisk decided to laugh anyway. The Snowdrake seemed frozen in shock at the sound of the child's laughter. Then a large grin broke out on his face.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“You’re laughing?” He said, shocked. “You’re laughing! Dad was wrong!”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Both Frisk and Chara winced at that statement before Frisk spared the Snowdrake. As he flew away, however, he seemed to drop something. It was gold.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“That’s twelve pieces,” Chara said.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Should we return it to him?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Eh, if we find him again. I hear voices up ahead though, sounds like Papyrus. Come on, let's go.”</b>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Another chapter? So soon? I surprise even myself. </p>
<p>Anyway, I'm super excited y'all, with the last chapter this fic passed 1000 hits. I just wanna thank you guys for taking the time to click on my silly story and I give an extra thank you to everyone who commented.</p>
<p>Anyway, that convoluted magic system I warned about is starting to rear its ugly head, I hope I didn't bore or confuse any of you too much lol.</p>
<p>I hope yall enjoy this chapter, tune in next time where we find out if Frisk will catch a cold or not.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. I need to get out of Snowdin quickly cause I'm already running out of winter-themed titles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh man, sorry for the wait you guys. I've just been a little busy lately getting ready for school and haven't had as much time to write. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back on track now.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Surely enough just ahead of them Papyrus and Sans stood talking in the path.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“So, as I was saying about Undyne-” Papyrus stopped in the middle of his sentence as something caught his eye. He froze. Sans followed his brother's gaze looking down the path at the human child. The skeleton brothers began to look wildly back and forth between each other and what they saw. Whipping their heads faster each time soon devolved into full-on spinning that stopped as quickly as it began.</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Alphys let out a giggle at the brothers’ antics. Undyne smiled sweetly at the sound. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>“Sans!” Papyrus hissed out, his teeth clenched with barely restrained excitement. “Oh my God! Is that a human!?!?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The screen panned over to a rock that lay near where Frisk stood. It would seem that this is what Papyrus was looking at, not even having noticed Frisk.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Uuuuhhh… Actually, I think that’s a rock.” Sans said. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Papyrus deflated. “Oh.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Hey, what’s that thing in front of the rock?” </b>
</p><p>
  <b>Papyrus turned back and jumped back in surprise slightly as he noticed Frisk for the first time. “Oh my God!” He shouted. And then quietly to Sans asked: “Is… Is that a human?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Yes,” Sans assured him.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“OH MY GOD!”</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite himself, Chara couldn’t help but smile. Even during the darker runs, Papyrus and his antics could always be relied on for a moment of levity. Papyrus was always one of the hardest ones to kill. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Does that make it any better?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>A voice in the back of his head whispered. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“You can play the remorse card all you want but that doesn’t change the fact that you killed them.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Unbidden, Flowey’s words came back to him: </span>
  <em>
    <span>“You of all people must know how liberating it is to act this way.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Chara whispered to himself. “Don’t think about that. Not yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>While Chara was lost in thought, the Papyrus on the screen was busy expressing his excitement over finally finding a human. He marveled at the prospect of his future popularity. Then he turned to Frisk warning them to continue only if they dared before he ran off to prepare his traps.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Well, that went well,” Sans said. “Don’t sweat it, kid. I’ll keep an eyesocket out for ya.” He winked. Turning, he made to follow his brother but stopped mid-stride. “Oh, I almost forgot.” Out of practically nowhere, Sans pulled out an old orange coat with two red stripes on it, along with a matching pair of red boots and gloves. “I dug around in some old boxes and found these for ya.” He tossed them over to Frisk, who caught the jacket before it hit the ground. “I’ll see ya up ahead.”</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Toriel let out a sigh of relief and let a smile small grace her lips. It was relieving to know that Sans was making due on his promise. True, he was no knight in shining armor, but in his own way, he was watching out for Frisk and reassuring them. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>“Well…” Started Chara. “That was interesting.” He turned to Frisk who had buttoned up their new coat and was now pulling on the gloves. Then they began to stare at the boots in front of them. “Frisk? You okay?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Yeah, why wouldn’ I be?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“I don’t know, you just have been glaring down those boots with Bobby Fisher intensity.” Frisk looked at him blankly, not getting the joke. “Nevermind.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Frisked huffed looking down at the shoes. Then a lightbulb seemed to go off above their head, they gathered up the boots and began to run back down the path while Chara called after them.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Eventually, the pair came upon the box from before. Frisk opened it and then sat down in the snow in front of it. Pulling off their regular shoes they placed them in the box and then pulled their new ones on. Then they stood and began smiling at Chara.</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Sans felt his soul twinge at the look on Frisk’s face. It was a look he knew all too well as he had been on the receiving end of it for years. It was the smile a younger sibling gave an older sibling while they were waiting for their approval. For confirmation that their old sibling thought what they just did was cool or smart or whatever. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>“Oh, nice! I had completely forgotten about this thing.” Chara smiled back at Frisk and Frisk’s smile seemed to widen at Chara’s words.</b>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>As Frisk walked they suddenly felt the telltale signs of a battle beginning. They looked around wildly for the new monsters. It took them a few seconds to fully… </b>
  <b>
    <em>appreciate</em>
  </b>
  <b> it’s appearance. It looked somewhat like a snowman with arms and legs, but its body was disproportionately small compared to its large head. But the most mesmerizing thing about the monster's appearance was the giant two-foot-tall hat made of ice that rested on their head like a crown. </b>
</p><p>
  <span>The audience was similarly stunned by the headpiece adorning the Icecap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ya know,” Sans said, breaking the awed silence. “I’ve lived in Snowdin for a long time now, and I still cannot help staring whenever I see that kid's hat. It’s just so…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... Awful,” Everyone finished for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Distracted by Icecaps hat, Frisk was unable to dodge one of the ice spikes that Icecap threw at them and it scraped their arm.</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Toriel huffed, trying to keep her anger in check. “Someone should really teach these teenagers to behave themselves. Don’t they understand that it’s not polite to run around starting fights with everyone you meet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well,” Undyne interjected. “Though I can’t say I like seeing Frisk put in situations like this, I don’t see anything wrong with kids roughhousing a bit.” Undyne gave a shrug. “I mean I did it all the time as a kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toriel looked incredulous. “That is not roughhousing.” She snapped. “I’ve taken care of children before and I know what roughhousing looks like. These children are starting full battles and using their bullet patterns! Don’t they realize that they could seriously injure each other, or even kill each other?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Asgore let out a sigh. “I believe, once again, the blame for this rests on me.” The others turned to look at him.</span>
</p><p><span>“Asgore, you can’t seriously be blaming yourself for the actions of a bunch of kids?” Undyne asked.</span><span><br/>
</span> <span>“No, Toriel is right, things used to be much different before. Before, fights were forbidden from being initiated unless by the royal guard and regular citizens could only use their bullet patterns for self defense. The only monsters that were exempt from this rule were ones that lacked the sentience to realize what they were doing- however, those monsters could never do much harm regardless. But when I declared war on the human race things began to change. You may not remember it Undyne, but the royal guard was not as popular then as it was in your time. Very few children aspired to be soldiers. My anger has infested the underground and fostered an attitude of violence among my people.”</span></p><p>
  <span>The room was quiet. No one was sure what to say in response to the king. So they decided to keep watching. What came on screen, however, was no better.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Scared after the hit they took, Frisk drew their toy knife and attacked the Icecap. The monster died in a single hit.</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“H-how is Frisk doing that much damage now?” Alphys sputtered out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once again, Asgore let out a solemn sigh. “I cannot say I fully understand how, but I do know that this is a trait of humans. Each time they kill monsters, they seem to grow more powerful. And since Frisk killed Toriel…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But, humans can’t absorb monster souls, they don’t stay around after death long enough-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A boss monsters soul can be absorbed by a human,” Toriel interrupted. “I had hoped that Frisk would’ve taken mine, as it is a necessary component for going through the barrier.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alphys looked as though she had a million more questions to ask, but before she could ask any of them, Asgore raised his hand. “We do not have all the answers, Doctor. I do not know what it is that makes humans grow stronger as they kill. But the proof is in front of you. You can see it yourself in the damage that Frisk can do, and the fact that their maximum HP has increased from twenty.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>During the conversation, Chara looked towards Sans, wondering if he was going to tell them the answer. He didn’t, instead, his eyes remained glued to the screen, staring at something no other monster could see: </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Level of Violence: Five.</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My brain: you should progress the story.</p><p>Me: I'm gonna write a scene were Sans gives Frisk Paps old coat</p><p>My brain: Where are your priorities?!</p><p>Me: But what if Frisk catches a cold?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Cracks in the ice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>“Stop it,” Frisk snapped.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara raised an eyebrow. “Stop what?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“You’re staring at me funny.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Oh, sorry. I was just… thinking.”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“What about?”</b>
</p><p>
  <b>There was a long silence as Chara seemed to contemplate his answer. He parted his lips tentatively as if he was scared to speak. The words died in his mouth. “We should keep going.”</b>
</p><p>“That was the first time I felt it,” Chara recalled. “I didn’t recognize it after mom’s death… I was just as shocked as Frisk then. But after killing that Icecap…” </p><p>Unbidden, a memory flooded into his mind: <em> “LOVE, too, is an acronym.” </em> That voice. Like ice shattering on a frozen lake. Unnatural and piercing and cold. <em> “The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself.”  </em></p><p>“Shut up!” Chara shouted.</p><p>
  <em> “The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others.” </em>
</p><p>“I was protecting them!”</p><p>A different memory took the place of the last: <em> “No. You’re empty inside. Just like me.” </em></p><p>He couldn’t take it anymore. He ran from the room. He needed to see Frisk.</p><p>A new memory. His voice this time. <em> “Every time a number increases, that feeling… That’s me. “Chara.” </em></p><p>He ran blindly into the room where Frisk was sleeping. Seeing them there- seeing the steady rise and fall of their chest- he felt the twisting feeling in his stomach fade as the memories receded. </p><p>With a shaky breath, he climbed onto the bed, laying down next to Frisk. He wrapped his arms around them, hovering ever so slightly to give the illusion that he was still solid- still alive.</p><p>“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what it felt like to sleep. </p><hr/><p>The audience of monsters, none the wiser to the ghost who had just left their company, watched as the Chara and Frisk of the past continued their journey.</p><p>
  <b>As Doggo blindly swung his blue-blade in a wide sweep, Frisk found themself unable to jump completely out of the way. The child let out a cry of pain and fell to their knees, moving them out of the reach of Doggo’s next attack. Once again brandishing their toy knife, with tears in their eyes, Frisk stabbed up at Doggo. Though the attack did much to weaken Doggo, he had not yet dusted.</b>
</p><p>The watching monster’s felt conflict stirring in their hearts. On one hand, they did not want to see Doggo die, he was just an innocent monster- and to some a friend- who was trying to do his job, attacking a moving object that he didn’t recognize. But on the other hand, they did not want to see Frisk die again and seeing as Frisk did not understand blue attacks, it would be impossible for the child to subdue Doggo or run from him. </p><p>
  <b>The fight continued and in the end, Frisk proved themself to be the stronger on and Doggo let out a final whimper before collapsing to the ground in a heap of dust. </b>
</p><p>“Damn it,” Undyne spat. </p><p>Papyrus pulled his knees up to his chest, trying to curl upon himself. Doggo had been his friend. He remembered the day Doggo had come to Snowdin. Papyrus was so excited when he’d heard that a new sentry would be stationed in Snowdin. It was one of the only times he’d gone to Grillby’s willingly. Dogammy and Dogaressa, who hadn’t even been married yet, introduced him to Doggo and that had opened the flood gates. Papyrus asked him questions late into the night and if it was past his bedtime Sans decided not to say anything. Doggo answered all of his burning questions: What was Undyne like? Did he miss the capital? What were his bullet patterns like? When did he start his training?</p><p>Doggo never seemed to get annoyed by Papyrus’s questions. He had a very laid back personality that reminded Papyrus of Sans, though, unlike Sans, Doggo seemed to be always on alert despite his attitude. Later, Papyrus learned that this was due to Doggo’s motion blindness, but in his opinion that only made him more cool. He’d become a member of the guard despite his partial blindness, and he told Doggo just that.</p><p>
  <em> “Thanks, Papyrus. Ya know I think you’re pretty cool too.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Really?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Yeah, kid. I’ve never been able to see someone as much as I see you. Never lose that energy and you’ll get into the guard no problem.” </em>
</p><p>Doggo had been his friend. He’d encourage Papyrus. He’d carried Sans home from Grilby’s when his brother had one drink too many. He’s eaten Papyrus’s spaghetti and told him it was the best he’d ever had. And now he was dead. Just a pile of dust at the feet of the human that Papyrus loved so much. </p><p>He felt confused. He felt hurt. He felt lost.</p><p>
  <em> “Should I have just captured Frisk when I first saw them? Is this my fault?” </em>
</p><p>Papyrus felt a hand on his shoulder. It was his brother. His face, though still locked in its perpetual smile, also seemed to carry an expression of worry and warmth. As if he was asking Papyrus without words: <em> You okay, bro? </em></p><p>But that was the problem. Papyrus didn’t know if he was okay or not. He didn’t know how to deal with these new conflicting feelings. So, instead of responding, he leaned into his brother’s touch, welcoming the familiar comfort of his older sibling presence. </p><p>
  <b>Frisk was trying to fight back tears and was failing. They sniffled as snot began to run from their nose.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Chara, in the meantime, knelt next to Frisk trying to comfort them but unable to make contact. After another minute, Frisk seemed to have finally calmed down and they began to walk on down the path.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>“Frisk,” Chara called. “Wait one second.” Frisk turned around to face Chara again. “Uh… that pouch that Doggo dropped over there.” He pointed. “They’ll be gold in there. We need to take it.” Frisk inhaled sharply as if about to begin crying again. Chara quickly explained himself. “I know it’s wrong but… you’re gonna need to get food, Frisk. It’ll heal you, and we don’t know how long it’s going to take to get you out of the underground. We need that money.”</b>
</p><p>Both Toriel and Asgore felt both appalled that Chara would entertain the idea of stealing from a monster he’d just killed but also understanding that Frisk would need to survive in the underground somehow and Chara was only trying to give them the best chance possible. </p><p>“I should have done more,” Toriel reprimanded herself. “I should have taught Frisk about blue attacks. I should have given them golf and food to sustain themself- and a coat to keep warm. I- I should have just taken them through the underground myself but I was too much of a coward-”</p><p>“No, Toriel. It’s my fault. I fostered this hostility. Frisk should have been allowed safe passage through the underground. I should have cared more about a child’s safety than my own revenge,” Asgore proclaimed. </p><p>“But-” Toriel started.</p><p>“Okay,” Sans interrupted. “You guys could go back and forth like this all day of whose fault it is or isn’t. But I don’t think that would be the most productive use of our time here. We’ve got a lot of discs to get through, so could we postpone the guilt Olympics ‘til the end?”</p><p>The other monsters in the room seemed shocked by Sans’s brisk dismissal of the king and former queen, but they had to agree, there were more important things to worry about at the moment. So they decided to drop it, but none of them were quick to forget it. </p><p>In all fairness, Sans hadn’t meant to snap like that. <em> “I’m being petty.” </em>But, in his opinion, he had somewhat of a right to be at this point. But the impending reveal of his long-kept secrets was not what was grading on him currently.</p><p>In his years working as The Judge for Asgore, Sans had only had to deal with five killers- three of which were the children that had fallen before Frisk. <em> “The highest Level of Violence belonged to the kid with the yellow soul,” </em> Sans recalled. <em> “He had ten whole levels.” </em> Ultimately Sans had deemed that the kid wasn’t a bad person, but even then he could see that the LOVE had already affected him greatly. <em> “Frisk is almost halfway to the level he had, so why’s the kid still getting this upset over killing? Where’s the LOVE going?” </em></p><p>Shaking his head, Sans returned his attention to the screen. For a moment, his eyes fixed on Chara’s. They were red, and Sans couldn’t help but feel like he’d seen them before. </p><p>Frisk’s voice filled his head, though it sounded so strange and mocking for the eight-year-old. <em> “It’s just you and me now, isn’t it, comedian?” </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Gonna be honest. Was not expecting this chapter to go the way it did but I'm happy with it. Also, let me know if the tangent of Doggo and Paps relationship is weird. I needed an into Pap getting more contemplative and was inspired by a really good fic about the two of them becoming friends. </p><p>Anyway thanks for reading and a double thanks to anyone who's commented.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. A short sharp shock</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>After entering the next clearing in the forest, Frisk found Sans waiting for them, leaning casually against one of the pine trees.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Hey, here’s something important to remember. My brother has a very special attack. If you see a blue attack, don’t move and it won’t hurt you.” Sans continued to explain blue attacks with a rather clumsy comparison between the attacks and stop signs. It was a bit messy but it got the point across. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait,” Alphys interrupted. “Sans, were you watching Frisk fight?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Shit,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sans thought. “Uh- yeah, I mean I guess.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well then- why didn’t you- I mean…”She drifted off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think what Doctor Alphys is trying to ask,” Toriel picked up. “Is why you did not step in when you saw Frisk and Doggo hurting each other?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Woah, woah, woah,” Sans said. “How the hell am I supposed to know?” The others looked at him confused. “I mean, this timeline doesn’t exist anymore- in our current timeline I only saw the kid avoiding each attack and resolving conflicts like the little badass they are. What makes you think I’d have any idea what this Sans was doing or thinking at the time?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both Toriel and Alphys looked slightly abashed. “I am sorry, Sans,” Toriel spoke. “I did not mean to accuse you of anything. This whole time travel debacle is not something I can so easily wrap my head around.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yeah, same here,” added Alphys, her eyes still focused squarely on the floor in front of her. “I guess I just kinda forgot for a second, ya know?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, it’s no skin off my back. This whole thing is a lot to take in. I doubt any of us are gonna be particularly happy with our old selves' actions at some point.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alphys gave a shy smile and nod, her confidence returning as the situation defused. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“You know you’re not doing yourself any favors here, buddy,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sans’ conscience seemed to tell him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“They’re gonna find out eventually. And then what? Do you honestly think any of them are gonna respect you? When all you did was sit by and watch them die over and over again.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sans pushed the thoughts away. He didn’t need to worry about that right now. He would deal with the problem as he dealt with all his other problems: at the last possible moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Meanwhile, back with Frisk and Chara things seemed to be looking up. Frisk, unable to step on the frozen pond without falling on their butt, asked Chara to go read the sign for them.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Let’s see here… North: ice, south: ice, west: ice, east: Snowdin Town…” Then, smiling at Frisk he added: “And ice.” Frisk giggled. “So where would you like to go? Personally I’m having a hard time picking.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Well, I think-” Frisk was cut off however as the familiar feeling of a battle washed over them.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Lesser Dog appeared.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Many of the monsters began to hold their breath, wondering again if they’d have to watch Frisk be hurt or see another innocent monster die. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Luckily though, given Less Dog’s excitable nature, Frisk barely had to raise their hand before he dropped his spear and shield and bounded over to Frisk to be pet. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The two children continued heading eastward and they heard two familiar voices locked in a heated debate… or at least one voice locked in a heated debate while the other was giving a lukewarm defense. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“You’re so lazy!” Papyrus shouted at his brother. “You were napping all night!”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Sans (metaphorically) raised an eyebrow. “I think that’s called… </b>
  <b>
    <em>sleeping.”</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Excuses, Excuses!”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Papyrus… do you not sleep?” Undyne asked, her voice caught halfway between a laugh and disbelief. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, Undyne,” Papyrus answered. “I get the necessary four hours needed to get me through the day.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Four hours?” Alphys said, incredulous. “Papyrus, most monsters need at least eight consecutive hours of sleep to remain healthy!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nonsense. And besides, why would I waste my valuable time sleeping when I could be working on my puzzles, or training to get into the royal guard, or anything else.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sans let out a weary sigh. “You can imagine what bedtime was like when he was a kid.” Toriel and Asgore both let out a laugh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is that meant to mean, brother?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It means you were a little nightmare.” Papyrus was aghast. “Come to think of it,” Sans stated, a sly quality coming to his smile. “That’s probably why I’m so lazy now. You just wore me out so much as a kid that I’ve gotta make up for all that lost energy now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do not try and pin your lazybones attitude on me!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on, Pap. You can’t argue with facts.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>It was at this point that the skeleton brothers noticed the human standing on the other side of the clearing.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Oh-ho! The human arrives!” Papyrus pointed dramatically at Frisk. “In order to stop you my brother and I have created some puzzles! I think you will find this one… quite </b>
  <b>
    <em>shocking!” </em>
  </b>
  <b>Chara narrowed his eyes slightly. “For you see, this is the invisible electricity maze! When you touch the walls of this maze, this orb will administer a heart zap! Sound like fun?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Not at all,” Chara deadpanned.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Because!” Papyrus continued, not able to hear the dead boy. “The amount of fun you will probably have is actually rather small I think.” Chara’s narrowed eyes had evolved into a full-on glare. “OK, you can go ahead now.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk looked tentatively from the ground in front of them and Chara. After taking a deep breath, Frisk stepped forward. After just two steps Frisk froze in place as Papyrus suddenly yelped in pain.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Sans! What did you do?!”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“I think the human has to hold the orb.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Oh, okay.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Holding the orb gingerly in both hands he began to carefully trudge through the snow, avoiding all the invisible walls of his maze. With each step he took however, Papyrus left an imprint in the snow, giving Frisk a clear guide on how to walk through the maze. Frisk looked back at Chara with an expression of pure delight at Papyrus’s actions. Seeing Frisk was clearing enjoying themself, Chara seemed to soften a bit. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Hold this please!” Papyrus said, placing the orb on top of Frisk’s wild brown hair. Tilting their head forward, Frisk let the ball drop off their head and into their hands while Papyrus hurried back through the maze. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Barely able to contain their laughter, Frisk began to carefully step in the footprints of Papyrus until they reached the other end of the clearing. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Incredible!” Papyrus cried. “You slippery snail! You solved it so easily… too easily!” He continued to go on about how this was not the last of the trails the human would face and the next puzzle would be a confounding one set up by Sans, before running off in a blur of red and white.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Once he was gone, Frisk walked up to Sans who was watching his brother disappear down the path.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Hey, thanks… my brother seems like he’s having fun.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk gave Sans a warm smile before heading down the path that Papyrus had gone down and Chara appeared next to them. Frisk turned to face him and their smile faded once they saw the look Chara had on his face, staring down the path that Papyrus had gone. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“What’s wrong, Chara?” Frisk asked.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Chara blinked as though he was snapping out of a trance. “What? Oh. Nothing.” He sighed. “I was just worried. I thought that maze was going to be more deadly than it turned out to be.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk scrunched their nose in confusion. “Why would you think that?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Frisk, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but, every monster we’ve encountered has tried to kill you.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“But Sans said that Papyrus wasn’ dangerous.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“And you just trusted him? What if he was lying?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk looked away, slightly abashed. “But he wasn’t lying…”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Chara huffed. “Look, Frisk, it’s okay. You’re right, he wasn’t lying. I just wanted to be sure first. Frisk we’re… I… forget it. Let’s just keep going, yeah?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk was silent for a moment, a question on the tip of their tongue, but they dropped it. “Yeah… okay.”</b>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <b>Farther on the children encountered a large rabbit-like monster with blue fur standing next to an ice cream cart. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“He looks sad,” Frisk noted.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Probably because no one wants to buy ice cream when it’s freezing out,” Chara retorted. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Maybe I should-” Frisk started, but then stopped abruptly. Taking out their newly acquired coin pouch Frisk began to count the money they had. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Twenty-five,” Chara said. “Probably enough to buy something, but then there won’t be much left for a real meal.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk bit their lip, contemplating for a moment, before deciding that Chara was probably right and walked away. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Surprisingly, Sans was just ahead of them, leaning against a tree. He waved and Frisk walked over to him. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know Sans, you’re a little creepy sometimes,” Undyne stated.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sans gasped in mock surprise. “Undyne, I’m hurt.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know she’s kinda right Sans,” Alphys added.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You too, doc?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re just way to quiet,” she said, trying to hold in her laughter. “I mean we can’t walk anywhere without wondering if your big dopey grin is gonna be around the corner.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah man, you’ve even managed to sneak up on me a few times,” Undyne added with both admiration and annoyance in her voice. “Which is something very few people have gotten away with over the years.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess I have more talents than I realized.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am not sure I’d call that a talent,” Toriel interjected.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Not gonna spare any change for our poor nice-cream salesman?” Sans asked. Frisk shook their head with a slight pout. “That’s a shame, cause I’ve been thinking about selling treats too. Want some fried snow? It’s only five gold?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk considered the offer for a moment, then seemed to decide that five gold was not going to put a huge dent in their pocket. “Sure!”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Did I say five gold? I meant fifty gold.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk grew dejected. “Oh… I can’t buy it if it’s that much.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“You’re right. That’s still too low.” He winked and Frisk laughed, realizing that Sans was only messing around. “Anyway, your next puzzle is just thataway.” He pointed southwards. “I’ll see you there?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk nodded and then made off in the direction Sans pointed them too. Along the way, however, Frisk got distracted by what looked like a minigolf course that used a giant snowball instead of a golf ball. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk kicked the ball around a bit, trying to get it into the hole, but each time their aim seemed to be off by just a wrong amount and the ball would go speeding off in the wrong direction, bouncing off the walls of the course. It was clear from Chara’s expression that he would very much like to continue on, but Frisk had made up their mind about beating this game, and would not stop until they did so. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Finally, when the ball was barely the size of a gumball. Frisk managed to kick it into the hole. A light blue flag popped up. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“You waited, still, for this opportunity…” Chara announced dramatically. “Then dethroned the ball with a sharp attack. Your patience has awarded you four gold.” He gestured to the money that had appeared with the flag. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Maybe I should play again? Then I’ll be able to afford Sans’s fried snow.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“For some reason, I don’t think that would be the best place to invest your money,” Chara said dryly.</b>
  <b></b>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Junior Jumble</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>h-hewwo?</p>
<p>I'm not dead y'all. shocking I know.</p>
<p>In other news college was CRAZY i fear for my life!</p>
<p>but now I have the next semester off cause of rona, so I can focus more on writing.</p>
<p>This chapter is a bit short but I kinda just needed to get myself back into writing, ya know?</p>
<p>Anyway, hope you enjoy and I apologize for the long wait.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>The familiar bouncy tempo of Papyrus’ theme picked up once more as the two human children approached their next trial. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Human!” Papyrus shouted. With a dramatic flair, he gestured to the ground in front of him where a large sheet of paper sat in the snow. “I hope you are ready for-”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The skeleton paused abruptly, as if noticing the paper for the first time. “Sans! Where’s the puzzle?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Undyne rubbed her hand across her face in fond exasperation. “To be honest, I don’t know what I expected.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Toriel giggled. “I, for one, am glad for your laziness Sans. As long as it keeps Frisk from a potentially dangerous situation.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fair enough,” Alphys added, “but what if there was ever an actual threat Sans?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sans shrugged, “I guess we should be that never happened.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The older skeleton, made a halfhearted gesture to the ground, unbothered by Papyrus’s anger. “It’s right there. On the ground.” Then with the lazy confidence that Frisk was beginning to associate with him he added, “Trust me, there’s no way they can get past this one.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frist skipped forward, ignoring the irritated huffs from Chara that they should be more careful. They gingerly picked the paper out of the snow and held it up so that Chara could see.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>It was one of Junior Jumbles weekly word searches. On one side of the page, the mascot, Ice-E, had turned into a crumpled mess due to snow melting and seeping into the paper. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The seconds dragged on. Frisk’s hands trembled slightly and they shifted their weight awkwardly. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Frisk?” Chara prodded carefully. “Is something wrong?” Frisk’s shaking grew fiercer, causing the two skeleton brothers to notice it as well. “Frisk?” Frisk did not reply.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Many of the watching monsters began to feel dread pooling in their stomachs. Papyrus, however, was confused. In their current timeline, Frisk had only glanced at the puzzle before strolling right past it. He could understand them not bothering to try again after a reset, and yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was something different.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Uh, hey kid,” Sans pipped up awkwardly, “are you alright? I- is the coat not warm enough or something?” Tears began to well up in the child’s eyes and their lip trembled as they attempted to hold in what might have been a whimper. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Frisk?” Chara tried again. It was too much for the child and they promptly threw the puzzle to the ground and sunk to their knees with a strained sob. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Why am I so stupid?” Frisk asked, burring their face in their hands.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frisk’s words came as a punch to the gut to Toriel. “Oh Frisk, darling, please tell me you do not actually think that?” The goat monster felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes, but she held them in, she could not cry now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is a children's puzzle, correct? Why should Frisk feel this way about themselves?” Asgore questioned. Then turning to Toriel he asked, “Have they ever shown trouble with reading before?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Toriel shook her head, Frisk had always been such an attentive reader. She couldn’t wrap her head around what might be causing her child this much distress.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Both Sans and Chara seemed to have been stunned into silence by Frisk’s words, but Papyrus wasn’t. He approached Frisk with a tentativeness that was not often associated with the hyperactive skeleton. Placing one hand on Frisk’s crumpled form, he began to rub soothing circles on their back. Looking up at him with a slightly panicked look, Frisk quickly attempted to wipe away the tears that were pouring down their cheeks. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Many of the monsters were taken aback by Papyrus’s level response, Papyrus most of all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“The way I’m rubbing Frisk’s back,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Sans used to do the same to me when we were younger.” </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He remembered it well. When he was a child, Papyrus always had trouble learning when compared to the other monsters his age, though it wasn’t for a lack of trying. In truth, he tried harder than those around him, always having a deep curiosity about the world around him and the secrets hidden in his school books. Yet, each time he tried to sit down and work, his mind would become fuzzy like how the T.V would sometimes get during a snowstorm, and many days would end with Papyrus throwing his book down and running into his room while tears of frustration filled his eye sockets.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He remembered how he would lay there, sometimes for hours at a time, until Sans got home from his shift at Grillby’s. And while his face was buried in his pillows, Papyrus’s brother would begin to rub circles into his back to try and calm him down. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sans always told Papyrus that it wasn’t his fault, he was just different than the other children, and there was nothing to be ashamed of. Papyrus hadn’t believed him at the time. Papyrus wondered if he even believed him now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“I-I’m sorry- I-”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Now human, there’s no need for that. I can assure you that you are </b>
  <b>
    <em>not, in fact</em>
  </b>
  <b>, stupid.” Papyrus said. Frisk looked confused. “Junior Jumble is the creator of the most difficult and mind-twisting puzzles in the underground. Even I find myself frequently bamboozled by them. You should not be ashamed that you cannot solve it.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite the tense situation, Alphys could help but let out a breathy little laugh. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I wonder how Papyrus, even in his naivety, always seems to know just what to say.” </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk let out a shaky breath, but with Papyrus’s words, they seemed to have calmed down slightly. Seeing this, Sans stepped forward. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“I’m sorry kid. I didn’t mean to upset you so much. I should’ve used something… not as difficult.” Sans seemed to cringe at his rather awkward apology, but Frisk didn’t seem to notice as they turned to hug Papyrus, burying their face in his scarf. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Here human,” Papyrus said as he pulled the child into his arms. “Why don’t we all go to Snowwdin together? We can go to the restaurant my brother is so fond of, though personally I think the food is a bit greasy, and solve this puzzle together,” he stood up. “How does that sound?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk pulled their face out of the crook of Papyrus’s neck. They were smiling slightly.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“I’d like that.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Just some notes. </p>
<p>I myself have ADHD and i used my experiences to inform Pap's. Though he doesn't explicitly have ADHD, i am going to leave it more open-ended so if you recognize some aspects of Pap's behavior that line up with something else- then let your headcanons go wild ya know?</p>
<p>Also, I've teased you a bit with some skelebro's backstory. We will get more later but just to clear up somethings. Papyrus would be the equivalent of a 7-8 year old during this memory, while Sans would be the equivalent of a 16 year old. </p>
<p>Again, hope you enjoyed and expect the next chapter soon</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Heated Debates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>As they were led into the warm glow of Grillby’s bar Frisk seemed to melt into the new atmosphere. Many friendly voices called out to the group, often to Sans specifically Once the greetings tapered off the group picked out a booth in the corner of the restaurant and Frisk climbed into their seat next to Papyrus. A tall rabbit-like monster approached the table right on their tails, placing down cups of water along with kids menus for Frisk and Papyrus. Saying she’d give them a minute to look over the menu, the waitress disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“You guys take your time,” Sans said casually as he got out of his seat, “Imma go talk to Grillby.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Alrighty,” Papyrus said, “but Sans, no-- uh…” He cast a slightly nervous glance at Frisk, “no </b>
  <b>
    <em>soda.”</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Sans seemed to tense for a moment, but played off his emotions expertly. “Don’t worry, bro. We wouldn’t wanna ruin the kids teeth afterall, right?” And he continued walking to the bar.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was an awkward tension in the room. The implications of Papyrus’s words missing none of the monsters in the room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... Sans,” Toriel tentatively started. Sans cut her off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Look Tori, there’s really no need. Yeah, sometimes I overinduldge from time to time, but really-- I mean-- it’s not as big a problem as you’re probably thinking. It’s more of a ‘once in a blue moon’ kinda thing, ya know.” He explained.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To Sans’s credit, the lie was rather believable, but that was assuming that the people he was lying to were not already suspicious of you. And from the half-pained, half-worried look the other monsters could see plainly on Papyrus’s face, it was more than obvious that this was not a ‘once in a blue moon kinda thing’ as the older skeleton claimed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And yet, no one said anything. Afterall, how do you come out an accuse your friend of being an alcoholic after only finding out about the issue two seconds ago. And so the tense air remained in the room, weighing down on everyone as they turned back to the recording.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <b>On the screen, Sans was leaning against the counter waiting for Grillby to finish mixing one customers drink so they could talk. Absently, he looked back at the booth where his brother and Frisk sat, their heads pressed together over one of the kids menu, different colored crayons clutched in their fingers.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Well,” came a voice from behind Sans. He turned, eyes meeting a tall fire elemental in a finely pressed vest. “This is certainly the last thing I expected to see today.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Hey Grillby,” Sans sighed.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Mind explaining what I’m looking at?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Well, given you don’t have eyes, it’s a bit hard to tell… but if I had to guess I’d say you’re looking at me.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Hilarious,” Grillby said dryly. “But you know exactly what I’m talking about Sans. Why is there a human with you?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Sans grimaced. “Can’t get anything past you, can I Grillbz. Given none of the half-dozen royal guard dogs in here noticed I’d hoped you wouldn’t either.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Grillby shrugged, “I doubt many of them have seen a human before, and I know none of them would expect one to waltz into a restaurant accompanied by the two most infamous monsters in the area.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Not to mention half of them have sight issues,” Sans mumbled.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Undyne’s lip curled slightly. It was true that many of her guards had their own quirks, but she didn’t like hearing someone speaking negatively about them because of it-- even if that person didn’t mean it maliciously. Yes, Doggo had trouble seeing things that weren’t moving, but that made it nearly impossible for someone to sneak past him. Yes, Dogamy and Dogaressa may rely on their noses a bit to much, but Undyne had never met a pair of fighters better at coordinating their movements and attacks. In short, Undyne took a lot of pride in her team.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“So again, I ask, why is there is there a human with you?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Papyrus is making a new friend.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>That answer clearly didn’t satisfy Grillby, who’s flames started flickering a bit faster. A tell that Grillby was getting agitated that would have gone unnoticed by someone unfamiliar with the fire monster. “Sans, I don’t know if you remember but we do have this little decree from the king that any human found in the underground is meant to be brought to the capital or killed on sight.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Really? When did that get passed?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“</b>
  <b>
    <em>Sans.</em>
  </b>
  <b>”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Many of the monsters tensed. Since the reveal of Frisk’s ability to reset the timeline every encounter put the group on edge. Never knowing if they’d have to watch Frisk die again or kill again. Now that fear was extending beyond combat as Frisk was put in situations and interactions   </span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“And what the fuck do you want me to do about it,” Sans snapped, still keeping his voice low enough as to not be heard over the general chatter in the bar.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Sans, you’re a part of the royal guard.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Not a good part of it.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Maybe not, but what you’re doing now is a crime. If the king or-- stars forbid-- </b>
  <b>
    <em>Undyne</em>
  </b>
  <b> were to find out what you’re doing--”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“So I should kill the kid? Or do you think it’d be better if a simple led them to their death.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Grillby paused, trying to keep his emotions in check. “Sans, you know that’s not what I’m saying. I was alive when the first child fell into the underground, I know the ‘all humans are evil’ thing is a load of crap made to help us all feel better about murdering children.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Then what </b>
  <b>
    <em>are </em>
  </b>
  <b>you saying. Cause right now, you’re nagging me worse than my father.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing Sans. Harboring a human… Do you think you’ll be able to joke your way outta that one of you get caught?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Sans’s sigh seemed weary but his ever present smile never faltered. “Look, I get you’re concerned, but I’ll be fine.” Grillby was silent for a moment. I was obvious that he wanted to say more, but if Sans wasnt gonna talk about it, then there was nothing Grillby could do to change his mind. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Finally he spoke, “So can I get you anything?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“</b>
  <b>
    <em>Well--</em>
  </b>
  <b>”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“No alcohol.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Sans scoffed. “Fine. Just ketchup then.”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if knowing what they all wanted to ask without any of them voicing it, Sans spoke up. “It helps. When I can’t… I drink ketchup.” His eyes were set firmly forward, and it was clear that he wasn’t going to say anything else on the situation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I can’t let him avoid this again,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Papyrus thought to himself. It was a point his consciousness brought up again and again, but for some reason Papyrus always let it go in the end. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Sans isn’t going to open up about his problems. He never has. So why do I keep lying to myself? Convincing myself that he’ll come to me eventually if I just give him space?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Before he could continue his own mental beratment however, the scene shifted to the booth at the other end of the bar.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Though Papyrus was exceptionally fond of the puzzles of the front of the childrens’ menus, upon receiving them from the waitress he quickly flipped them to the blank backside. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“So hu-- little monster,” Papyrus cleared his throat, taking a moment to recover from the near disaster he almost stumbled into. “I’ve always wondered about the place where you come from, so I was hoping that you could show me some games that… </b>
  <b>
    <em>monsters like you </em>
  </b>
  <b>play!” He handed Frisk a green crayon. “But of course, you do not have to. Would you prefer to draw instead?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Frisk was quiet for a moment, face scrunched slightly in concentration. Then the child pulled the paper closer and began to draw something on the paper before showing ti to Papyrus. It was a grid of nine squares and Papyrus looked at it unsure. Frisk then picked up a blue crayon and drew an X in the center square.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“This is called tic-tac-toe,” Frisk explained. “On your turn, you draw an O in one of the empty boxes. The first person to fill a row of boxes wins.” Papyrus nodded in understanding before he raised his own crayon to the paper, and took his turn. </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Soon Sans rejoined them at the table. He watched the two of them play with a lazy half-lidded gaze. Once Frisk offered to play a round with him, but he refused.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“Nah, a game like that is way to complicated for a bone-head like me,” he smiled.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A light laughter filled the room. No one had forgotten the tension from before, but seeing the three of them bonding over their meal did wonders in improving everyones general mood.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“We will confront Sans eventually,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Toriel promised herself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“I can see now that this is the true purpose of these tapes. We are not just here to learn about Frisk’s struggles or Chara’s spirit, but to face our own issues as well.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>She took a breath, refocusing hearself onto the actions on the screen. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“For now though, I will allow myself to enjoy seeing Frisk being taken care of.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey guys sorry for the wait. Unfortunately, I died. Don't worry though I got better. </p>
<p>I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter- sorry if its a bit messy cause my spelling and grammar checker just disappeared from existence. I'd proof read myself, but I fear id never get around to posting the chapter if I tried lol. </p>
<p>anyway, yeah sans got some drinking issues. this is an idea I've seen in other fics and I decided to explore it myself. though I didn't wanna make it come across like I was adding something heavy just for the sake of adding angst. But like, Sans is an adult and he's been going through the ringer (even before Frisk arrived) so it made sense to me that he'd end up adopting some rather unhealthy coping methods that toby probably couldn't put in the game.</p>
<p>Also I know skeletons don't have throats or eyelids don't come for me.</p>
<p>God I wish I had the ability to write longer chapters but every time I try I disappear for 30 years lol</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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